Emily and Todd
by ladymoonscar
Summary: we all love the Wraith. so here's a story about Todd and human named Emily. Todd/OC
1. Common Ground

COMMON GROUND

Since joining the Atlantis team two years ago, Dr Emily Parks had seen and experienced most of everything. She'd been abducted by the Wraith, chewed on by an Iratus Bug, stunned multiple times, almost killed by the Genii on several occasions and seen one of her best friends killed.

Now it wasn't so different.

"Dial the Gate!" shouted Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard as they evaded the Genii weapons.

Teyla Emaggan and Dr Rodney McKay raced to the Stargate with Ronon Dex hot on their heels.

"Atlantis, we're coming in hot!" roared Rodney as he ran for the wormhole home.

Emily and John shot at the on-coming Genii as the rest of their team went thru the Stargate.

"Time to go," John said and the two bolted for the Gate.

They were almost at the wormhole when something caught the backs of their vests and ripped them back. The Stargate closed. Emily hit the ground hard and let out slight, "Hey!"

John gripped Emily's hand to make sure she was okay and looked around. The Genii were standing around the two Atlantians, their guns pointed at their prisoners. A grappling hook was caught in the backs of both John's and Emily's vests. Emily followed the ropes to the gun that had fired the hooks.

"Kolya," John growled.

Kolya, an old Genii soldier smiled. "It's good to see you again, Colonel. Dr Parks."

* * *

Emily paced inside the cell like an agitated lioness. She hated being locked up. She hated the Genii. And right now, she really hated Kolya.

"I am so fed up with always playing the hostage," she growled.

"Kolya," John called. "I didn't kill you last time, remember? You promised me points for that. Kolya!"

Emily sighed. "We should've killed him."

"You are wasting your breath," said a raspy male voice from the opposite cell.

John and Emily shot each other looks.

"I didn't know we had company down here," John said.

"There is no escape," the man continued. He was half-hidden in the shadows so they couldn't see his face.

"Yeah," agreed John. "Prisons are like that, but that never stopped me before."

Emily looked thru the barred window that the two cells shared. "How long have you been here?"

"Many years," replied the voice.

"How many is many?" Emily pressed.

"It no longer matters."

"That long, huh?" said John. "What'd you do to get down here?"

"I merely allowed myself to be captured alive," the man said.

"Same here," Emily said. "Listen, we have people looking for us. When they get here maybe we can all…"

A door clanged open and four Genii guards entered the cell area.

"Move," one of the guards said as another opened the cell.

John and Emily stood their ground.

The Genii cocked his gun.

"I kinda like it here," John said.

The soldier fired his weapon at the wall behind John and Emily and they coughed as the powder flew into their lungs.

"Commander Kolya insists," the soldier sniggered.

"Well if he insists," John said and went with the Genii.

Emily took a step to follow John, but the Genii shoved her back and locked the cell.

"Okay," Emily whimpered as the Genii took John away, "this is bad."

* * *

Emily tried to see what was happening. A few minutes after the Genii took John, they had taken the man in the opposite cell, but the bars had blocked her view of him. Now, the Genii were dragging John between them.

"Oh sweet Lord," Emily muttered as she saw what was wrong. John was older and his chest was bleeding. He'd been fed on by a Wraith.

"Colonel," Emily shrieked. "Colonel, wake up! John, stay with me!"

John moaned and stirred. "I hate Kolya."

"He set a Wraith on you?" Emily said in a high pitched voice.

John nodded and sat up with a groan. "Thing was creepy, too."

Emily tore her sleeve, wet it in the rain puddle and dapped at John's chest.

"They called you 'Sheppard '," said the man in the other cell.

"Yeah," sighed John. "That's me, pleased to meet you."

"Are you in pain?"

"He was just fed on by a Wraith," Emily snapped, "what do you think?"

"I wouldn't know," the man said.

"Hopefully you'll never find out," John shot back. "I didn't think anything could hurt that much."

"You're still alive," the man pointed out. "Tell me, do you blame the Wraith or the master?"

"I'm gonna go with both," John muttered darkly.

"There is a difference; the Wraith must feed in order to live. For Wraith, hunger burns like a fire."

A horrible thought came to Emily's head and she saw it dawn in John's eyes, too.

"Tell me, Sheppard, if you found yourself burning alive, would you settle for just one drop of water or would you take more?"

"Where'd you hear them call him Sheppard?" Emily asked, moving closer to the window.

The man stirred and stepped closer to the window. "I heard them say it just before I started to feed!"

Their cell neighbor…was the Wraith!

* * *

**The Wraith watched as the human woman glared at the Genii commander as he entered the cell area.**

"**What do you want, Kolya?" she spat.**

**Kolya smiled. "You're a physician, Dr Parks. I've brought you some supplies to nurse Colonel Sheppard back to health."**

"**How thoughtful of you," growled Sheppard, sarcastically.**

**Kolya pushed a medical pack thru the bars at the woman and added, "Also, when you're done with the colonel, take a look at the Wraith."**

**The woman cast the Wraith a sideways look as Kolya left. "Great, now I'm supposed to baby both of you."**

"**No one's asking you to help me," the Wraith said.**

**The woman narrowed her green eyes dangerously at him. "Back off, buddy." And she went to work on Sheppard.**

**After she was done, the Genii soldiers shoved her out of her cell and into the Wraiths'.**

"**I gotta warn you," she said, "I'm very skilled in…origami."**

**Although the Wraith didn't know what that was, it sounded rather intimidating, especially coming from this woman. The Wraith sat down on the floor and allowed the woman to approach him.**

**She knelt down and fitted a stethoscope into her ears, but hesitated. "Uh, where's your heart?"**

**Sighing, the Wraith pointed to where every humanoid had a heart. "Wraith and human physiology is not so different."**

"**I'll keep that in mind," the woman said and pressed the stethoscope to his chest. She placed a hand on his opposite shoulder, her touch surprisingly gentle…and warm.**

"**Do you have a name," she asked. The Wraith stayed silent. "Okay," she said, "I'll call you Todd."**

**The Wraith raised an eyebrow. "Why?"**

**The woman shrugged. "I need to call you something and Todd was a guy I knew at the university."**

**The Wraith, Todd, noticed that this woman had a strange scent. It was strong, but not unpleasantly so. "They called you Dr Parks?"**

**She smiled slightly as she felt his sides for any damaged ribs. "That'll be me. But I guess you can call me Emily."**

**Todd grunted in acknowledgement. It was strange, but somehow this Emily reminded him of a Wraith queen.**

* * *

Emily had gone back to pacing, thou it was with renewed vigor since the Wraith was staring at her. It was creepy.

But she had other worries; any moment the Genii would come back and take John to another feeding.

The doors opened and Kolya came walking back in. "Well, I'm surprised that thing didn't kill you," he said to Emily.

"You were betting he'd snap my neck?" Emily said, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you said this wasn't personal."

"The truth is, I would've settled for Dr McKay, but I don't imagine I would enjoy his constant wailing."

"They're never gonna trade Ladon for us, Kolya," Emily sighed. "Why don't you just finish this?"

Kolya grinned and leaned up against the bars. "I think you underestimate the sympathetic nature of Dr Weir."

"Well then," said John, "you underestimate Elizabeth."

"You'd prefer I storm Atlantis and take Ladon by force?" Kolya asked, confused.

Emily chuckled. "What've you got; a half dozen men and a starving Wraith?"

Todd growled in warning.

"No offense," Emily tossed over her shoulder then turned back to Kolya. "Sure, go right ahead."

Kolya scowled. "One way or another, Dr Parks, I will get Ladon Radim." He looked to his soldiers. "Bring Sheppard and the Wraith."

* * *

**The Wraith watched as Emily helped Sheppard, now back from another feeding, over to a wall and help him down.**

"**Where are your friends now?" Todd asked.**

"**They'll be here," Sheppard said with sincerity.**

"**You still believe that?"**

"**They just need more time," Emily shot at him.**

"**No one has ever left this place alive," Todd continued.**

"**Well, we are," Sheppard snapped.**

"**Kolya will kill you before your friends have a chance to reach these cells."**

**Emily stood up, her eyes narrowed again. "How well do you know the layout of this place?"**

"**Well enough to know what they'd be up against."**

"**What about us?" Emily pressed. "Do you know enough about this place to get us out?"**

**Todd blinked in surprise. "You and me."**

"**And me," added Sheppard.**

"**Are they gonna let you go after we're both dead?" Emily asked Todd sarcastically.**

"**No," Todd admitted.**

"**Then what do you have to lose?" Sheppard asked, getting slowly to his feet.**

"**My life," Todd shot at him.**

"**Oh yeah, you got a great one down here."**

"**Listen," Emily said, "it makes sense. We have a common goal."**

**Todd shook his head, "As I said before, there is no escape." He walked back into the shadows and sat down.**

"**It was worth a try," muttered Emily.**

**Todd looked up to see her staring at him with heavily lidded eyes. Why did he feel so ashamed?**

* * *

The Genii came back for Todd and John. Emily could tell that this would be the last time she would see John alive. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. John gave her a half smile and squeezed back. "Say hi to the team for me."

Emily nodded and the Genii took them away.

John was still alive, a lot older, but alive. "You know I could've sworn I was dead."

"You are strong," Todd said, "stronger than any other human I've fed upon."

"You stopped yourself," John said.

Emily gave Todd a startled look, who said, "The longer I feed, the weaker you become and you need your strength… to escape."

"Now he wants to escape," John grumbled.

* * *

**Todd went willingly with the Genii until they got outside his cell. To his right, Sheppard had stopped in the middle of his cell threshold.**

**Emily jumped one of the soldiers from behind as Todd and Sheppard attacked their other guards.**

**Todd broke the shackle on his feeding hand and pressed it to his guards' chest. Ah, the exhilaration! It filled him up with such energy it left him gasping when was finished.**

**Emily tossed him the keys to his other chains and a gun. "Let's do this."**

**They walked quietly along the corridors, Todd and Emily in front with Sheppard in the back as they made their way to the surface.**

* * *

Emily inhaled deeply as she smelled fresh night air. "It's the little things you learn to appreciate," she said.

"How far is the Stargate?" John asked Todd.

"It will be guarded," warned the Wraith.

"We've got guns."

"They will be waiting for us," Todd growled.

"Don't be so negative," John snapped.

Todd growled softly and stumbled into a tree and collapsed against it.

"Are you gonna make it?" Emily asked.

"If I feed," replied Todd.

"Well don't look at me!" John snapped.

Todd smiled and got to his feet.

"We make it to the Stargate," John said, "we go our separate ways. Until then, we're gonna need each other. Deal?"

Todd grimaced, but nodded. And they started running into the woods.

After a while, John muttered, "We were blindfolded all the way to the bunker, but it wasn't this far."

"If I could just move faster," Todd snapped, increasing his speed, but he tripped and fell.

"We'll rest here for a few minutes," John said.

"You two should go on without me," Todd said.

"No," Emily insisted. "The gate's guarded and you two are the only ones with weapons."

"You can do origami," Todd pointed out.

Emily winced. "Actually, origami is a… paper folding thing."

Todd chuckled humorlessly. "Very well."

"Are we going in the right direction?" John asked. Todd remained silent.

"You have no idea where the Stargate is, do you?" Emily growled.

"It was many years ago," Todd muttered.

"Wait to go, Emily!" John shouted. "Listen to a Wraith!"

"It was not my intention to deceive you, Sheppard," Todd assured him.

* * *

The walkie-talkie Emily had taken from one of the guards came to life. "Our reinforcements have reached the Stargate, Commander."

"Kill the Wraith on sight," Kolya responded. "I want Sheppard and Parks alive."

"Well," Emily said, "we've learned two things' one, he likes us better than you, Todd. Two, we probably wouldn't have made it to the Stargate anyway."

"Then it is over," said Todd, sinking to his knees.

"No," John snapped. "Our people don't leave each other behind. That's three things you've learned."

"You still believe that?" the Wraith said derisively.

"Kolya doesn't know where we are," John continued. "If he's wasting manpower that could be used for searching for us, guarding the gate, the odds of my people finding us are going up and up."

"You are more like Wraith than you know," Todd said quietly.

John snorted. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

"There is much about Wraith than you know, Sheppard."

* * *

**Emily's communicator crackled again. "Tell Commander Kolya there's nobody around the Gate."**

"**Sounds like they're concentrating their search around the gate," Sheppard muttered. "They must think we knew where we were going."**

**Todd laughed. "Ah, it was worth it, if only to see the sky again."**

"**I've got higher expectations," Emily shot back.**

**Todd sighed. "My wound is deep. If I do not feed soon, I will die."**

"**Buck up," commanded Emily in a forceful tone. "We got a deal, remember? We all go home alive."**

"**And if we were to meet again in the future," Todd asked, leaning closer to the woman.**

**Emily shrank a little at their close proximity. "All bets are off."**

**Todd laughed. "Then let us hope we do not meet again." And for some reason, Todd felt that if he never saw these two humans again… he would be torn between happiness and sadness.**

* * *

**It was morning when Todd smelt them coming; Genii. He glanced at Sheppard and Emily and made a split second decision. He placed his hands over their chests and dug in, leaving just enough strength for them to survive.**

**Emily woke up and stared at him with wide eyes. "You son of a bitch," she whispered.**

**Todd smiled. "Play dead for a moment." And he jumped into the trees, leaving them as frail old humans.**

**The Genii came along shortly and poked at the bodies. Todd jumped down and took care of them in quick succession.**

**He turned back to Sheppard and Emily, who were stirring feebly.**

"**Finish it," Sheppard croaked defiantly.**

"**As I told you, John Sheppard," Todd hissed, "there are many things about Wraith that you do not know." He placed his hands back on their chests.**

* * *

Emily felt very confused as she grew stronger instead of weaker. Suddenly Todd was flung away and she saw Ronon, Teyla, Rodney, Carson and a bunch of marines with guns all pointed at the Wraith. "Wait!"

Emily and John stood up, completely young again.

"I don't understand," Beckett said. "We all saw what he did to you!"

"He just undid it," muttered John.

"The gift of life if reserved only for our most devout worshippers," Todd explained, "and our brothers."

"I guess there is a lot about the Wraith we don't know," Emily consented.

"Sheppard and Emily gave me back my life, "Todd continued. "I merely repaid the debt."

"What debt?" Rodney asked. "Are you kidding? They look younger than before!"

"What about Kolya?" Ronon asked.

John looked around and grabbed the walkie-talkie. "Kolya, this is Sheppard." They couldn't hear anything except…

"That's the Stargate!" Emily seethed.

"Kolya, I figured you'd run," John said. "Next time, I kill you on sight, do you hear me?" But the commander was gone.

"Let's get off this rock," sighed Emily.

"What about him?" Ronon asked, referring to the Wraith.

"We had a deal, right?" John said.

Todd smiled. "I didn't truly expect you to honor it."

John hesitated then took Ronon's gun and shot the Wraith, who went down.

Ronon looked at John. "You didn't kill him?"

"No," agreed John. "Get him in the Jumper, we're gonna drop him off somewhere."

* * *

**Todd woke up with a start. He found himself lying on a dirt ground with a Stargate activated across a small river. He looked around and saw Emily standing next to him. "Ah, I thought you…"**

"**There are a lot about humans that you don't know," Emily said with a cocky smile.**

"**I see," said Todd, getting to his feet. They held eye contact for a moment. "Next time we meet…"**

"**All bets are off," replied Emily, almost regretfully.**

**A Dart suddenly flew above them. Emily stepped back and disappeared into the invisible Jumper.**

**Todd looked back just in time to get one last glimpse of her vivid green eyes.**


	2. The Seer

The Seer

Emily massaged her shoulder as she walked into Colonel Samantha Carters' office. Not for the first time, she felt the twinge of anger and sadness as she remembered Elizabeth and Carson, both lost in the last year.

"Good morning all," she said to Samantha, John, Ronon, Rodney and Teyla. "What's this important news?"

"They are called the Vedeenans," Teyla said. "I've known about them my entire life, but I've never met them. They do occasionally trade with others in the galaxy, but for the most part they keep to themselves."

"And you want to visit them because…" said Samantha.

Teyla shifted her weight to one foot. "It is said that their leader, a man named Davos, is a great seer."

"What do you mean?" asked Rodney, "like a psychic?"

"I do not know the full extent of his powers, but it is rumored that he can glimpse the future."

Emily saw where she was going with this. "You think this Davos might be able to help you find out what happened to your people?"

Teyla ducked her head. "I realize that it may seem desperate, but it has been several weeks and our usual means of investigation have turned up nothing."

In the end, Samantha allowed a team to go to Vedeena.

* * *

"Allow me to make a prediction," Rodney said sarcastically as he and Emily walked to the Stargate. "This will be a complete waste of time."

Emily rolled her eyes. "I knew you were going to say that."

John called everyone to order. "Alright, from what Teyla says, these people are a little skittish. You can bet that five heavily-armed strangers showing up out of nowhere is going to set them off a little, so let's be on our best behavior, children."

They walked into the Stargate and came out on Vedeena.

"Hello," muttered Emily in surprise.

Five people were waiting for them, smiling pleasantly. The woman- for there was only one- stepped forward and said, "Welcome. You must be the people from Atlantis."

"These people don't look very surprised," John said to Teyla.

"My name is Linara," the girl said. "You are Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, Doctors Emiline Parks and Rodney McKay, Teyla Emaggan and Ronon Dex. You've been expected for some time now."

* * *

**The Wraith- deemed Todd by Emily Parks- walked into the city of the recently culled town. The people screamed in terror and fled.**

"**We have not come to harm you," he assured them.**

"**You are Wraith!" shouted a man to Todd's left. "What else can you possibly want from us?"**

**Todd paused for a moment, thinking that, if he failed in this, everything would fall to disaster. "I understand that you are given aid by the Atlantians. I only wish for you to give them a message."**

**The humans muttered amongst themselves then the man stepped forward slightly. "What is your message?"**

**Todd smiled. "When the Atlantians next arrive, tell them that I wish to speak to Colonel Sheppard and Dr Parks, it is a matter of great importance. I will be at this Gate address," he held out a piece of paper and set it down on the ground, "and tell them that they are to come alone."**

**Turning on his heel, Todd left. "Now all I have to do is convince them that I mean them no harm…yet."**

**Being a Wraith, this would prove most difficult, especially if Emily Parks had hardened after their last encounter**.

* * *

Linara led the Atlantis team into the tent of her father, Davos. "Father? The people of Atlantis are here."

Davos looked up and smiled warmly. "Come in! Come in! I've been expecting you." His eyes fell onto Rodney. "You have doubt in your heart."

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Anyone with a basic understanding of body language could've told you that."

Davos extended his hand. "Among my gifts, is the ability to show others what I can see."

Rodney glanced at Emily, but she shook her head. "You're the skeptic."

Rodney grimaced and then took Davos' hand. He gasped and stared unseeingly at the ceiling. He stumbled back and shook his head. "I think I just saw a vision of us being captured by the Wraith."

* * *

"You said it was a forested planet, misty with Ancient ruins?"

"That's what I saw," agreed Rodney.

Samantha exchanged a significant look with Richard Woolsey of the IOA, who'd arrived that afternoon. "While you were gone, we received a report that the people of M2R-441 were recently visited by a Wraith. Based on the description of his facial markings, it sounds a lot like the Wraith who helped you, John and Emily, escape from the Genii last year."

"Our old buddy?" Emily said, confused.

"Apparently, he has a matter of great importance to talk about with you two. The planet he wants as the rendezvous sounds an awful lot like the place Rodney saw in his vision."

Woolsey cleared his throat. "Um, as I said before, I'm a strict observer, but I have to wonder how wise it would be. We don't need any mystic visions to tell us that this Wraith can't be trusted. You're talking about deliberately walking into a trap."

"Exactly," said John.

* * *

**Todd listened quietly as the humans made their way to the ruins.**

"**This is a bad idea," muttered McKay.**

"**Don't be so negative," Sheppard snapped.**

"**I hate this place," muttered Emily. "There is probably Wraith hiding everywhere. I vote we go back."**

"**I second that," McKay said right off. "Hold on…this is the place! It's where it happened!"**

**The Wraith soldiers flooded out of their hiding place. The humans raised their weapons and took aim at them.**

"**You were supposed to come alone," Todd said, stepping into view.**

"**Yeah," said Emily, lowering her gun. "Sorry about that."**

**Two Jumpers appeared in the sky, their weapons charged and ready. Todd glared at Emily, who shrugged innocently.**

* * *

"Jen how's the patient?" Emily asked as she pulled off her off-world gear.

Jennifer Keller, who'd become her assistant and was seeing to Davos for her, said, "Well, from what I can tell, he seems to be suffering from a kind of lymphatic cancer. There's not a lot I can do for him here."

"Have you detected any physical anomalies that might be related to his visions?"

"Well, I don't really have the equipment with me that's necessary to make that kind of analysis."

I nodded. "Okay, why don't you bring him back and we can get started."

"Understood, Emily."

* * *

Ronon escorted Emily to see the Wraith, who was being held in the brig.

"So much for trust," the Wraith scoffed as she stopped in front of his cell.

"You tried to ambush us," growled Ronon.

"I had no intention of causing you harm, but I could not guarantee your cooperation simply by throwing myself at your mercy. My intent was to have this discussion on neutral ground."

"A discussion," Emily repeated.

"My reason for contacting you," the Wraith elaborated. "I require your help."

Emily smiled at that; a Wraith asking a human for help.

"We worked together once before. You even gave me a name; Todd."

"That doesn't mean I want to do it again," Emily shot back.

"You will," Todd said. "As you know, the Wraith are at war. I believe you refer to our enemy as the 'Replicators'."

Emily folded her arms. "It sounds vaguely familiar."

Todd smiled knowingly. "Well, we have a weapon, a virus that was designed to reset their attack directive, causing them to stand down and return to their planet. At present, it is not working."

Ronon scowled. "Get to the part where we care."

"It is well known among the Wraith that Dr. McKay made certain changes to the Replicator base code, opening the door for them to alter their programming. Well, knowingly, or not, they have since repaired the weakness our virus exploited, which means in order to get it working again, I need to know the changes that Dr. McKay made."

Emily dropped her arms and her demeanor became icy. "Now here's the part you're not getting; we're glad that they're kicking your ass."

Todd narrowed his eyes. "Only because you are as yet unaware of their new tactic: our one vulnerability, our food supply. They have begun to annihilate human worlds."

Ronon and Emily shared unhappy looks.

* * *

**Todd watched as Emily paced back and forth in front of his cell. She was that trapped woman again, like she had been when Kolya had captured her and Sheppard.**

"**Emily," said Rodney over the intercom.**

"**I'm here."**

"**I know you probably don't want to hear this, but your Wraith buddy's telling the truth. The planet was destroyed."**

**Emily closed her eyes and murmured something under her breath. "How many people lived there?"**

"**We estimated somewhere between 50 and 75,000."**

**Emily's eyes snapped open and she fixed Todd with a piercing stare. "Okay, so you told us the truth."**

**Todd smiled. "You don't like that, do you?"**

**Emily sighed and ran a hand thru her dense copper hair. "All those people, and you Wraith are sure to follow."**

**Todd opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the intercom. "Emily? Dr. Keller has arrived with Davos."**

**Emily shook herself and said briskly, "I'm on my way."**

* * *

"What does this machine do?" Linara asked.

"It scans the cells in his body and reports any abnormalities," replied Jennifer.

"Hopefully," Emily said, examining the computers, "it'll help us figure out what's wrong with him."

"And then you'll be able to cure him?"

Jennifer and Emily exchanged a look. "We'll do our best."

"You'll have to forgive her, doctor," Davos said as he climbed off the medical bed. "She's not used to dealing with uncertainty. I may have spoiled her in that regard. I can see many things, yet my own fate is hidden from me."

* * *

**Todd squirmed slightly in the harness as he followed Emily around Atlantis. The human woman glanced back. "Sorry, but they're a necessity." And she truly looked sympathetic.**

**Emily led him into a room with many computers and white boards. "Rodney?"**

**A human man popped out from under a desk. "Yeah? Oh, your friend. Right, thanks, Em."**

**Emily smiled wryly. "Rodney, this is Todd. Todd, Dr. Rodney McKay."**

**Todd inclined his head. McKay just jerked his chin.**

**Emily cleared her throat. "Okay, so I have a patient waiting for me. I'll check up on you two later. Play nice kids." She left.**

**Rodney shifted his stance. "Right, so why don't you come over here and, uh, go thru what I have so far."**

**Todd walked over to the monitors and went over the work. "No, no, no. This is all wrong."**

"**What?" McKay said, almost affronted. "How's it wrong?"**

**Todd pointed out the problems to McKay. "If I had my hands free, I could help."**

**McKay shrank away from him. "Uh, no, that's fine."**

**Todd realized then that Emily and Sheppard were only humans that didn't fear him. The thought both amused and puzzled him.**

* * *

Emily was going over Davos' brain functions, amazed at this 'genetic defect' that gave the old man his abilities. Of course, her awe was marred with fear. Could the Replicators really destroy the city? The thought was frightening, to say the least. Atlantis was her home. And the other Hive ship wasn't making things any brighter, either.

"Dr Parks to the Control Room."

Emily jerked from her thoughts and motioned for Jennifer to watch Davos while she was away.

"What's up?" she asked.

Samantha looked up from a consul. "I want to meet Todd."

Emily frowned. "Okay, he's back in his cell."

Samantha shook her head. "I want you to come with me."

Emily's eyebrows rose. "Why?"

Samantha exchanged a look with Woolsey. "I'm going to ask him for a truce."

"Okay," said Emily, still uncertain. "Uh, let's go then."

* * *

**Todd stood up as Emily walked in with another woman and a man. What was going on?**

**Emily opened the cell and they stepped in. "Todd, this is Colonel Samantha Carter, the commander of this city."**

"**A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Todd said, inclining his head.**

**Carter smiled slightly and nudged the man, who muttered, "Richard Woolsey."**

"**We have a proposition for you," Emily said.**

**Carter stepped forward and explained the truce. "We have a common goal," she said, using the same words that Emily had said last year. "We can make this work."**

**Todd thought over it. "We have an agreement."**

**Emily and Carter smiled at each other.**

"**I believe it is customary among your people to shake hands," said Todd, stepping forward. The Marines lifted their weapons at him, but Carter didn't even flinch. Todd laughed. "It's just a little Wraith humor."**

"**I hope you know what you're doing," Woolsey hissed to Carter and left.**

**Emily was about to follow her commanding officer out of the cell, but she turned back. She looked like she was about to say something profound, but instead she left.**

* * *

Emily waited with batted breath as the city of Atlantis waited for the newly arrived Hive ship to open fire on her.

"Doctors!" cried Linara from the other room.

Emily and Jennifer ran into the room where Davos was laying.

"Davos?" Emily said, checking his pulse.

Davos let out one deep sigh of breath, locked eyes with his daughter and died.

Emily ran for the Control Room. "Davos is dead."

Everyone glanced at her. "We have bigger problems," said Woolsey.

"The second Hive is charging weapons," said one of the controllers.

"Firing drones," said John in the Chair Room.

"Wait!" said Samantha. "Just wait a moment."

"The Hives' have opened fire," said Rodney. He did a double take. "They're firing on each other. They're not pulling any punches either."

After a few minutes Rodney gasped, "They destroyed each other."

"Was any of the Hives' able to get off a signal?" Samantha asked.

Rodney tapped his computer. "Negative. We're safe!"

* * *

Emily walked down into the cell block with a pair of Marines.

"So all it took was the destruction of my ship to get you to trust me," said Todd, with a hint of a snarl.

"Not true," Emily said with a playful glint in her eyes, "I still don't trust you."

Todd rolled his eyes as the Marines fixed the harness on his hands again. "When will you trust me?"

Emily smiled, but didn't reply.


	3. Megan

MEGAN

**Todd watched as Emily ate her lunch. She always had the same thing; flour chicken tacos with a light salad and a glass of milk. She always ate in the same manner, wiping her mouth at least twice after every few bites. He knew a lot about her after a year in Atlantis.**

**Emily was telling Todd about her life growing up in- what was it- Alaska. Todd laughed along with her as she told him about the time she played in a production of The Phantom of the Opera when she was younger.**

"**Dr. Parks to the Control Room."**

**Emily sighed and dabbed at her mouth. "Duty calls."**

**Todd smiled. "I must admit, when I first met you, I never knew you were so…interesting."**

**Emily winked at him. "I never thought talking to a Wraith would be so…interesting."**

**Todd chuckled as he and Emily entered the Control Room.**

"**Emily," Carter said, her forehead pinched.**

"**What is it?" Emily asked.**

**Sheppard stepped forward. "We've just received a message from Earth."**

**Todd saw Emily stiffen. "What has happened?"**

**Carter and Sheppard exchanged looks. "A girl named Megan Parks has been kidnapped and her grandparents were…hurt."**

* * *

**Being a Wraith, Todd could not understand why Emily was so upset. He didn't understand about families, even when McKay, Teyla and Sheppard tried to explain it to him. But it was enough that Emily was crying to have him feel sorry for her.**

**Todd had never seen Emily cry before, not even when she faced death a year ago. She'd been dried eyed, but now…Todd was at a loss for words. He stopped by her quarters to see that she was packing.**

**Emily glanced up at him and said in a brittle voice, "I'm sorry, Todd but I won't be able to join you for lunch."**

"**It is understandable," said Todd, waving away her words. "You have pressing matters on Earth. Do you know when you will be back?" He didn't know where the words had come from and, even more shocking, he felt sad that she was leaving.**

"**I don't know," replied Emily, sitting on her bed and holding her head in her hands.**

**This display of weakness shocked Todd more than his feelings. He hesitated then placed his non-feeding hand on her shoulder. "Would it help if I were to accompany you?"**

**Emily looked up in surprise. "What? You want to come with me to Earth? I don't think that would be possible. I'm going to be out in public a lot and, well, you don't look…"**

"**Human," finished Todd. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Well, I hope you find your daughter safe and well." He turned to leave, but Emily jumped up from her seat and rushed in front of him, throwing her arms around him in a hug.**

**Todd glanced at his guards, who were looking surprised and a little awkward. That understandable; if he interpreted human actions correctly, Todd knew that this 'hug' was fairly intimate.**

"**That means a lot to me," Emily murmured as she pulled away from him.**

**Todd smiled a little then left.**

* * *

"You're clear to go," said Samantha as the Stargate opened. "Good luck, Emily."

Emily nodded and shouldered her pack and tightened her grip on her suitcase. She took a few steps forward then stopped as someone called her name.

"Wait up!" called John as he and Ronon came running up to her with…

"Todd?" Emily said in amazement. "Wow. You look…wow."

Todd shrugged. "I thought that if I looked human, I could go with you."

And he certainly did look human; pink skin, short black hair and no hand sucker.

"I am shocked beyond all reason," Emily murmured, reaching out and running her hand over Todd's cheek.

"I figured you might need the emotional help," said Samantha. "Colonel Sheppard and Ronon will be going, as well, as Todd's…"

"Guards," Todd finished bitterly.

Emily smiled. "Thanks guys. Thanks a lot."

* * *

Megan Parks stared stonily at the door that kept her locked up in the secret compound. For one of the smartest people on Earth, she was rather young; only eight years old. She had inherited her mothers' green eyes and dark auburn hair. She was everything the Emily Parks was and nothing that Jason Carmichael was.

Megan walked over to her laptop and tore out the back of it.

Then she got to work.

* * *

**Todd thought that Emily's planet was strange. Some of the woman he saw hardly wore anything in public and they made strange sounds at passersby.**

"**What area did you call this place?" Todd asked Sheppard.**

"**San Francisco," replied Sheppard. "Alright, Emily, I gotta ask; when did you have a daughter?"**

**Emily smirked but it was without humor. "I gave birth to Megan two years after I married Jason Carmichael. I found out that Jason was sleeping with other women and I divorced him when Megan was three. I earned full custody over her and Jason was forbidden to ever come near us. My parents take care of her now that I'm with the SGC."**

"**Do you think this Jason guy kidnapped Megan?" asked Ronon.**

**Emily shrugged. "It's a possibility. Here we are."**

**The car stopped and they all got out.**

**Todd stared at the house in curiosity. He'd heard much about Emily's parents and he was looking forward to meeting them. He just hoped he could meet Megan as well.**

**Emily led them up to the door and knocked in a peculiar rhythm. "It's an old childhood thing I used to do," she explained under her breath.**

**The door opened and an old woman stepped out. She was pale, save for a bruise on her right cheekbone. Todd saw the resemblance between the two women in the sculpted features.**

"**Emily," the woman gasped. "Emily, is it really you?"**

**Emily smiled. "Hey, Mom. It's really me."**

"**We received that tape," the woman said, looking Emily up and down. "You were saying goodbye…we all assumed that…"**

**Emily bit her lip. "I'm fine, Mom. I've come home."**

**The old woman smiled and held out her arms. Emily hugged her mother and they both started to cry.**

"**Martha?" called a frail males' voice. "Martha, who is it?"**

**Emily's eyes widened. "Daddy?"**

**An old man came into view. He had the same green eyes as Emily and Todd could see the same color of hair receding from his scalp. "Emiline!"**

**Emily brushed past her mother and wrapped her arms around her fathers' waist. "Hey, Daddy."**

**Todd watched as Emily greeted her parents with watery eyes and a huge smile.**

* * *

After introducing her friends to her parents, Emily sat on the loveseat next to Todd. "So it was Jason," Emily murmured.

Samuel Parks scowled. "Aye, that no good villain took little Meggie away. But I got him; I slugged him good and proper!"

"Emily," said Ronon, "you're Dad's awesome."

"So are what exactly do you boys do?" Martha Parks asked.

"Ronon and I are kind of security," said John. "Emily has patched us up several times."

"And what about you, Mr. Wraith?" Sam asked Todd.

Todd shifted a little. "I work in the bioengineering field. I sometimes need Emily's help with a few things."

Sam muttered something in Gaelic. Emily blushed crimson and Martha hit Sam on the arm. "What a thing to say?"

"I'm just saying," Sam grumbled.

"We're here to save Megan," Emily said. "We're going to find out where she is and get her back."

* * *

Megan cursed quietly as she burned her finger on one of the wires that hooked the door controls to her laptop. "Okay, Uncle Liam," she muttered, "please get me outta here."

She brushed her fingers over a few keys, but nothing happened.

"Dang it," Megan muttered. "Okay, what went wrong?"

She went back to where the wires were connected and got back to work.

* * *

**Todd walked thru the house with Emily. She stopped just outside a door that was peppered with child's drawings.**

"**What is it?" asked Todd.**

"**It's Megan's room," Emily muttered. She seemed rather apprehensive.**

"**Do you wish to go in?" Todd asked.**

**Emily swallowed then opened the door.**

**Inside, the walls were a light purple with light green wallpaper. A bed was positioned beside the window, a sheer canopy hanging over it.**

**A dresser sported pictures of a little girl with Emily, Sam, Martha and two other men, but Jason was not among them.**

**Emily sat down on the small bed, a photograph in her hands and tears streaming down her face. "Emily?"**

**The woman looked up. "I'm sorry, Todd." She attempted to wipe away her tears, but they kept on coming.**

**Todd sat next to her and glanced at the picture. "Is this your daughter?"**

**Emily smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I took this last year after...after that incident."**

**Todd shuddered. He remembered that time when he and Emily had been stranded on a hostile planet and Emily had almost died from a bug bite. He'd felt so helpless, he'd wanted to scream out loud. He felt that way right now.**

**"She looks very much like you," replied Todd. "Very beautiful."**

**Emily looked at him and Todd realized his mistake. "I-I mean she is very healthy and-and…"**

**Why was she staring at him with that look? Todd felt himself falling into her green eyes and suddenly their lips met.**

**The kiss was so unexpected, but very enjoyable. Todd cupped her chin and kissed her harder. Emily reeled back, gasping for breath.**

**"I am sorry," said Todd. "I do not know what came over me."**

**Emily wouldn't look at him and after a short pause, he left.**

* * *

Ronan and Sheppard noticed how Emily and Todd ignored each other over the next few days. Usually they were best buds, now they seemed...embarrassed.

"I think something happened between them," said Ronan as he and Sheppard were being served pancakes by Martha.

"Of course something happened," said Sheppard. "Good luck trying to get either of them to admit it."

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Martha cut in.

Ronan and Sheppard looked at each other.

"Uh...no." Martha rolled her eyes. "They obviously took a step forward in their relationship and neither of them was ready for it."

"Wait," said Sheppard. "You mean...they...kissed?"

Ronan made a disgusted sound. "I do not need that image in my head!"

Martha laughed. "Oh, I think they make a cute couple! And it'll be nice to see Emily with someone again."

"Yeah but, Todd's kind of..." Sheppard's voice trailed off. "Kind of...different."

Martha's pale eyebrows rose. "That's a little judgmental, Mr Sheppard."

Ronan choked on his pancakes, laughing.

Sheppard thumped him on the back. "That's not what I meant. Todd has a...bad reputation where we work."

Sam and Emily entered then, Emily's eyes red and puffy. She'd fallen asleep crying again. Her usual warm smile was half-hearted and she was paler than usual.

It hurt to see her like this. She was usually so strong.

* * *

**Todd smelt the blood before they entered the cottage.**

**Next to him, Emily stared at the broken door with apprehension. Then she unclipped her gun and entered the house.**

**Todd placed the groceries on the porch swing and followed her inside. Once they turned into the living room, Emily let out a choked sound, somewhere between a scream and a sob.**

**Sam was laying on the creamy carpet, his green eyes blank and blood pooling around his bald head.**

**Emily dropped her gun and fell to her knees beside her father. She lifted his head into her lap and moaned and cried, tears falling onto Sam's dormant face.**

**Todd picked up her gun and moved through the rest of the house. Ronan and Sheppard were knocked out on the floor in front of the kitchen. Todd bent down to feel their pulses and looked inside the kitchen. Martha was sprawled face down in her own blood.**

**Todd felt a deep remorse course through him. He'd liked Emily's parents, they'd been good people, and now they were gone.**

**Sheppard groaned as he regained consciousness. "Todd?"**

**"What happened, Sheppard?" Todd asked.**

**Sheppard shook his head to clear it. "I'm not sure. Ronan and I were with Sam in the front room. Martha was making us sandwiches. We heard something shatter and Martha screamed. Ronan and I were about to go into the kitchen and...and I can't remember anything."**

**"Sam and Martha are dead," murmured Todd. "Emily's with Sam."**

**Ronan jerked awake and sat up, groaning. "Crap that hurt. What happened?"**

**"Sam and Martha are dead," Sheppard informed him.**

**Ronan glanced in the kitchen and swore, slamming his fist into the floor. "It was that guy, Jason! I saw him before I was knocked out!"**

**Todd let out a growl that reverberated through the house.**

* * *

Megan hurriedly pulled out the wires from the door and hid the damage when she heard footsteps coming closer to her room.

The door opened and Jason walked in, his eye still black and slightly puffy. "I thought you might like to know your mom's looking for you."

Megan smiled. "Good. That means you'll go to jail pretty soon."

Jason frowned. "Your mom's nothing but an arrogant slut running around like some girl Einstein! She'll never find us. She'll be too preoccupied with burying your grandparents."

Megan gasped. "You killed them? You killed them?"

"Had to," Jason grumbled. "They got between us, baby."

"I'm not your baby," Megan shouted. "You're not my father!"

Jason hit her across the cheek and left, slamming and locking the door.

Megan held her bruised cheek, holding back her tears. She had to get out of there. Jason was crazy and he was going to try and hurt Emily.

* * *

Todd put an arm around Emily as the coroners wheeled Martha and Sam out of the house. "I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear.

Emily leaned against him and closed her eyes. "Jason still has Megan. He still has my daughter."

"We'll find her," Todd vowed. "She'll be alright."

"Dr Parks?"

They looked up at an Air Force soldier. "Ma'am, we have a lead on where Jason might have your daughter."

Emily stood up. "Let's go," she said icily.

Sheppard and Ronon stepped forward. "Em," Sheppard said, "maybe you should stay behind. We'll get Megan."

"I'm coming," Emily argued.

"They are right," Todd put in. "Jason undoubtedly has something nasty planned for you. It would be safer to remain at the SGC."

The defiance died in Emily's eyes. She looked at her friends and commanded, "Find her. Bring her back to me, safe and sound."

* * *

**The building was of old brick and almost every entrance was boarded up. Todd followed Sheppard and Ronon to the far side of the building.**

**They stormed inside, intending to make it quick, but there were men waiting for them.**

**This was the place, Todd thought. Megan was in here. He ducked behind a crate as bullets flew at him. Why didn't someone give him a weapon? He saw a door leading further inside the building.**

**Making sure Sheppard and Ronon were occupied with the shooting, Todd made for the door. He slipped inside and walked quickly down the dimly lighted hall.**

"**Wrong move, buddy," said a voice behind him.**

**Too late, Todd turned to attack, but was hit over the head with a crow bar. He was out in an instant.**

* * *

Megan cursed under breath when she heard footsteps again. She hid her laptop like before and sat on her bed, pretending to read a book as the door opened.

"Thought you might like some company," Jason said as two of his goons tossed in an unconscious man. They left Megan alone with him.

Megan knelt down next to the man and shook his shoulder. "Sir? Sir? God, please don't let him be dead."

The man groaned and opened his eyes. "Where am I?"

"I have no idea, myself," Megan answered. "Are you okay? Can you sit up?"

The man gritted his teeth and sat up, propping himself on her bedpost. "Are you Megan Parks?"

"That would be me," Megan replied.

"I know your mother," he said.

Megan brightened. "Really? Is she okay?"

"She is well," the man answered.

Megan waited for more. "That's it? She's well."

The man shrugged. "She won't be very pleased to know that I have been captured as well."

"So you two are, like, a thing?"

"I do not know what you mean by that."

Megan sighed. "I guess they hit you harder than I first thought."

* * *

"They took Todd?" Emily repeated.

"It was a phony lead," John said. "Jason knew we were coming; he set a trap."

Emily groaned and put her head in her arms. "This is just perfect! I've lost my daughter, my parents and now…" She broke off, too angry to say anymore.

"We'll find Megan," John assured her. "And Todd. If we can manage it."

Emily stalked off in a huff.

"I think Martha was right," Ronan said. "Emily and Todd really do have feelings for each other."

John stared after Emily. "That's just wrong."

* * *

**Todd watched as Megan fiddled with a wire connecting her laptop to the door. She was a very smart girl. Smarter than McKay…maybe even himself. And she looked so much like Emily…**

"**That should do it," Megan said.**

**The wires sparked and Todd grabbed Megan back.**

"**Aw man!" Megan moaned. She inspected the wires. "Great, they're fused! Now what?"**

**Todd looked around. "Escaping from the Genii was easier than this," he sighed. Even as he said it, a wave of hunger swept over him. He groaned and stumbled into the wall.**

"**Are you okay?" Megan asked, her small forehead creasing in worry.**

"**I must feed," Todd growled, sliding down the wall and sinking to his knees. "Dr Keller warned of this."**

**Megan got down on her stomach and pulled out a pale green pack from under her bed. She unzipped it and proffered it to him. Inside were brightly colored sweets.**

"**Just don't tell Ma," Megan said, smiling mischievously. "I sneak these to school and eat them instead of the cafeteria food. I swear they try to poison us."**

**Todd wasn't sure if the Kit Kat bar would nourish him, but- as Emily or Sheppard would say- it was worth a shot.**

**Megan tore into a Three Musketeers and sighed happily. "How'd you meet my Ma?"**

"**We escaped from a prison together," Todd said bluntly.**

**Megan choked slightly. "Jail? Ma was in jail?"**

"**It is a rather long story," Todd sighed.**

**Megan brushed back her bangs, and in doing so, felt the barrettes in her auburn hair. An idea jumped into her mind. "Save that story for when we bust outta here," she said gleefully.**

**Todd raised an invisible eyebrow. "What is it?"**

"**I think I know how to get out of here," Megan said, pulling out her barrette and wedging it inside the door. "If I can time this right, we'll be out of here in time for dinner."**

* * *

"We have another lead," John said.

"Better than last time," Ronon added.

Emily looked up from her dinner. "I'm coming with you."

John nodded. "I figured you'd say that."

It was a paper manufacturing building.

"Five teams," John said. "Ronon and Emily are with me. Find Megan and Todd and get them out safely. We'll meet back at the SGC."

"And feel free to shoot Jason if you get the chance," Emily said darkly.

"Alright," John said, breaking up the awkward silence, "let's go rescue little Megan."

* * *

"Almost got it," Megan said around the Red Vine in her mouth. She tapped her keyboard and the door clicked open.

"Well done," Todd said approvingly.

Megan beamed and finished the Red Vine. "Let's go!"

They had gone but a few steps out the door when an alarm buzzed insistently.

"Did I do that?" Megan asked, her face paling.

They heard shooting and Megan pressed herself into Todd, who smiled. "I do believe your mother has come."

Megan's shout of triumph died in her throat as Jason rounded the corner and glared at them.

Todd shoved Megan behind him and growled at Jason, who flicked out a black rod and attacked. Megan cringed as the rod smashed into Todd's face and he crumpled.

* * *

Ronan ushered Emily and Rodney forward and they, with John, moved deeper into the complex.

"What's that?" Rodney asked, pointing to a shape on the floor.

"Todd!" Emily gasped.

They moved forward and Emily checked the Wraith's vitals. "Todd can you hear me?"

His eyes flashed open. "Jason has Megan."

Emily tensed and Ronan, John and Rodney ran for the open door that was banging in the rainstorm outside.

Todd touched Emily's cheek. "She's a strong girl. Just like her mother."

Emily smiled at him. "Thank you."

Todd nodded. "Go, Emily. I will follow."

Emily got to her feet and ran after the others out into the rain…

…and a horrible sight greeted her.

"Megan!"

"Ma! Help me!"

Emily watched as Jason held her child over the precipice, dangling feet from jagged rocks below. "Jason, please! Stop this!"

"Don't tell me what to do, bitch!" screamed Jason. "I swear I'll kill her if you or your friends make any move!"

Emily glanced thru the rain at John and Ronan, who had their weapons trained on Jason, but they didn't shoot. But Todd wasn't there. Where was he?

"You would kill your own daughter?" called John.

"I killed my in-laws, didn't I?"

Emily flinched at the memory of seeing her parents bloodied figures lying in the cottage. "Jason, why are you doing this?"

"You took my kid away from me!" bellowed Jason. "You deserve all this pain! You're a heartless bitch!"

"Correction," said a raspy voice from next to Jason. "I am the heartless one." Todd leaped out of nowhere and shoved Jason off the cliff...Megan falling with him.

"Megan!" Emily screamed, bounding forward, even as Todd dived off the cliff after the girl.

There were two sickening thuds, followed by a Wraith roar of agony.

Emily, John and Ronan looked over the side to see a broken Jason and Todd, holding Megan in his arms, both alive.

Todd had fallen on his back, holding Megan in his arms and out of harms' way.

Emily raced down to her daughter, who was crying very hard. "Mama!"

"Oh, sweetie!" Emily gasped, hugging her daughter close to her. "Oh, my baby girl! It's okay, it's okay, you're safe now!" "You okay?" asked John, helping Todd to his feet.

"I am well," replied the Wraith. "That impact was more painful than I had previously thought."

John smiled. "Now, you're just saying that to make me feel good."

Todd looked at Emily and Megan and sighed. "I presume the child is unharmed?"

"I think she'll be just fine," replied John, looking at the scene in front of them.

Todd limped over to them and Emily let go of her daughter, straightened up and kissed the Wraith in front of everyone.

"That's just gross," muttered Ronan as Todd wrapped his arms around Emily.

John had to agree.

* * *

**Todd, Ronan and Sheppard watched as Emily placed a single white rose on her parents' coffins. Next to Todd, Megan clutched her arms, sniffling.**

**"They were good people," he told her. The girl looked up at him with the same green eyes as her mother. "Their lives will be remembered."**

**Megan whimpered and started to cry softly into Todd's hand. The Wraith glanced at Ronan and Sheppard, who were trying to hide their smiles.**

**Todd sighed and lifted Megan into his arms, holding her in a grip that comforted the little girl.**

**Emily looked up from her parents coffins and smiled at Todd, who smiled back, smoothing Megan's red hair down. **

**The little girl snuggled against Todd as the service ended and they headed for Stargate Command. "What's going to happen to me now?"**

**Todd shrugged. "I imagine your mother will want to stay with you now."**

**"But she works so far away," protested Megan. "I'd have to leave all my friends!"**

**"You can always make new friends," Todd pointed out.**

**Megan cocked her head to the side. "How come the fall didn't kill you, but it killed Jason?"**

**Todd exchanged a look with Sheppard, who replied, "Todd's just a freak of nature. Don't worry about it."**

**Todd sighed again and stared out of the car window.**

**"Will Emily take her to Atlantis?" he asked once Megan had fallen asleep against Ronan's knee.**

**Sheppard shrugged. "That's Emily's decision."**

* * *

Emily held Megan as they walked through the Stargate to Atlantis, Todd holding her hand, still disguised as a Human.

Megan thought it was cool that she was going to live in Atlantis.

"Wow!" gasped Megan as they arrived in the city. "I'm really in Atlantis!"

"Welcome back, Dr Parks," said Carter. "And I see we have a guest."

"A little more than that," replied Emily. "Megan doesn't have anywhere to go, so she's going to stay here with me."

"What?" exclaimed Rodney. "You can't be serious! We can't have another kid running around and getting into conduits!" Everyone ignored him.

"Well then, welcome to Atlantis, Megan," said Carter.

"Megan," said Emily, setting her daughter down. "This is Colonel Samantha Carter, Tayla, Dr Rodney McKay, Dr Radik Zelenka, Dr Jennifer Keller, Ronan Dex and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard."

"Hello," said Megan shyly.

"Hi, Megan."

"Welcome."

"Hi."

"How do you do?"

"Very pleased to meet you."

"Excuse me," interrupted Todd, "but I'd like to return to my old self again. I feel ridicules as a Human."

"I don't know," said Sheppard. "I think you look kind of nice."

Todd sighed in irritation as Dr Keller led him to the infirmary.

"What'd he mean his old self?" asked Megan, looking up at her mom.

Emily hesitated, then said, "Todd is actually an alien."

Megan's eyes bulged. "You're dating an alien?"

Everyone laughed at her expression.

* * *

**Todd walked to Emily's quarters and saw her unpacking. "Hello."**

**"Hi," whispered Emily. "I just put Megan down for a nap," she explained.**

**Todd looked in the other room and saw the girl sleeping, her arms wrapped around her stuffed zebra. "I am glad she was not harmed."**

**"It's thanks to you she wasn't," replied Emily. She looked a little shy. "I owe you, Todd. I don't think I could've gone on living without her."**

**Todd smiled. "Oh, I am certain you would have found a way." They sat in awkward silence for a while.**

**"You're not, you know," said Emily. "Heartless, I mean. I think you're very brave."**

**"Emily," said Todd. "Would you like to- I mean, I cannot, but you can- I mean to go together- and maybe- I understand if you would rather stay here with Megan instead- but if you want to-" Emily cut him off by kissing his cheek lightly. "I'd love to." That made Todd smile broadly.**


	4. Be All My Sins Remembr'd

BE ALL MY SINS REMEMBER'D

**Todd had never felt this way about any one before. Then again, considering that Wraith females were always queens, he'd never been presented to an equal woman before.**

**Emily was working at her desk in her room, studying McKay's nanite technology for any problems it may cause for humans. But Todd wanted something else.**

"**You can get back to work later," Todd murmured in her ear.**

**Emily smiled coyly. "No I can't. I have to finish this before the Daedalus and Apollo arrive." She turned her head slightly and lightly kissed his cheek. "We can have some fun later."**

**Todd growled softly. "We never have time for each other anymore. Ever since McKay received that Replicator array, you've been too busy to even see me."**

**Emily glanced up at him. "I see you at mealtimes."**

**Todd rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant." He walked over to the window and looked out over the city. It was strange enough that he and the good doctor were even seeing each other, let alone…what had McKay said? Messing around? Todd knew that it was an extremely fragile thing, his relationship with Emily, but he wanted to make the best of it.**

**Guessing his thoughts, Emily sighed and got up. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his back. "You know that I care for you. For a Wraith, you've been quite the gentleman to me. Megan adores you and, although they don't show it, the rest of the team is grateful for your assistance to us."**

**Todd dipped his head. "If that is the case then Colonel Sheppard is most adept at acting."**

**Emily chuckled. "We both want to see the end of the Replicators soon. We stop them, they stop starving Wraith and annihilating human worlds."**

**Todd looked down at her. "And then our two species will start killing each other again."**

**Emily winced. "Yeah, there's the downside. The upside is that I'm almost finished with my work." She slid back into her office chair.**

**Todd sighed. "Emily, the last time you said that, I ended up waiting for two hours…"**

"**Done," Emily sang, tapping a few keys. She looked back at Todd. "Told you I was almost finished."**

**Todd smiled and took her into his arms. "Finally." He kissed her and held her close to him. He could feel her heart pounding against his chest as if it were his own. Todd loved the feel of her lips against his own.**

"**Dr Parks to the Gate Room," Colonel Carter's voice rang out over the city's comm system. "Dr Parks, you are needed in the Gate Room."**

**Emily growled under her breath as she extricated herself from Todd's grip. "Duty calls," she said apologetically.**

**Todd scowled as he watched her pack up her laptop. "Too busy," he repeated.**

**Emily smiled and kissed him once more. "I'll be back, Wraith."**

**Todd grunted. "Don't take too long, human."**

Emily walked into the Conference Room with a light spring in her step. "Colonels," she greeted.

"Dr Parks," Caldwell and Ellis greeted back.

Emily set her laptop down. "Ready, Rodney?"

Rodney nodded. He leaned in closer and whispered, "You're lipstick is smudged."

Emily glared at him. "Not funny."

Rodney shrugged and said to the room at large while gesturing to a data screen, "It is this resent discovery of the essential duality of this specific stem of the Replicators' nanite sub code that has opened up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to the expedient and permanent deactivation of the inter-nanite bond…"

"Dr McKay," Ellis cut across, "have you created an anti-Replicator weapon, or not?"

"If you'll just let me continue," Rodney began, "I think you'll have a better understanding of the complexity of…"

"Yes or no, Doctor," Ellis snapped.

Rodney and Emily exchanged a look. "Well, no."

"Alright," said Samantha, "we move on to Plan B."

"Just like that?" Emily asked.

"The Replicators are destroying every human colony they can find in an attempt to wipe out the Wraiths' food supply. We can't wait."

"But Plan B isn't a good plan," Rodney objected.

"Oh no?" asked Ellis. "Our way is operational, other than your way. Come to think of it, what exactly is your way? From what I understand, you haven't even got your programming done yet, let alone a delivery method."

Emily saw the challenge rise up in Rodney's eyes. "Rodney," she warned softly.

"I just want to know when the colonel, here, become a math and physics expert," Rodney growled.

"Doctor," Ellis said, "you came into this meeting knowing that you had nothing, but instead of just saying it like a man, you thought that you'd dazzle us with a lot of fancy talk and think we were too dumb to notice."

"Oh, so now you're questioning my manhood?" Rodney shouted.

"That's enough!" Emily broke in with her most scolding, motherly voice. Rodney and Ellis looked down, sheepish.

"Rodney," Emily said calmly, "please continue."

Rodney nodded. "Look, I think we got this tracking system down, we can peg where they're gonna be within a thirty minute window. And, given card data, we've at least twelve hours before any of their ships get close to an inhabited planet. Just give me and the Wraith…ten hours to get this shut down program working. If I don't then you can just feel free and open up on them with your beam weapons."

"Okay," said Samantha, "you have ten hours. Emily, I want you to assist in any way you can."

Emily frowned. "Great, now I'm Coffee Girl."

"**Why did you lie to them?" Todd asked.**

"**I didn't lie to them," McKay objected.**

"**It is most improbable that we complete our task within ten hours," Todd pressed.**

"**That is quitter talk," McKay said optimistically. "You don't know me. This is when I'm at my best, this is when I shine; impossible deadlines. Have I ever told you about the time I once got a damaged Ancient Hyperdrive online moments before me and my crew we almost incinerated by a super volcano?"**

"**Yes," Todd sighed, glancing at Emily, "many times."**

"**There you go," said McKay, "I work best under pressure."**

**Todd shared a look with Emily, who mimed a feeding Wraith. "Then perhaps I should threaten to feed on you if you do not complete the coding in time."**

**The Marines raised their weapons.**

"**Easy," McKay said, "he was just kidding. Go on, tell them you were joking."**

**Todd stared pointedly at him.**

**McKay paled. "Right, okay." He walked around a desk so that it separated him and Todd. "I'll work in this area."**

**Emily clutched at her sides in silent laughter.**

"**Hey!" McKay snapped at her. "How about some coffee?"**

**Emily narrowed her eyes at him and walked away, shouting something in Gaelic as she went to fix some coffee.**

**Ten hours later, Sheppard walked in with Megan riding on his back. "Time's up," he said. He set Megan down and the little girl ran into Todd's arms.**

"**Already?" McKay asked.**

"**I guess that means you're not done," Sheppard said.**

"**No," Todd yawned.**

"**Well, we're going with Plan B," Sheppard said. "Em, you wanna go for a ride? Em?"**

**Emily was asleep in front of a laptop. Megan giggled as Todd poked Emily a few times to revive her. "Ma's out cold."**

"**Ma's ready to break a finger if it taps her again," Emily mumbled sleepily**.

A week later proved that Plan B was an effective manner. But the Replicators threw the people of Atlantis a curve ball.

"They're falling back?" Ellis repeated in disbelief over a subspace transmission.

"Safety in numbers," Emily said. "Evidently, they haven't figured out how we're tracking them or they haven't figured out a way to stop us."

"Either way," said Rodney, "they want to stop loosing ships."

"So they're all heading back to the Replicator home world," Caldwell concluded.

"That's good," said Ellis. "They're finally all in one place and we can destroy them once and for all."

"Ideally, yes," said Samantha, "but our two ships vs. and entire Replicator fleet, not to mention the drones they'll be firing from the surface, we'll be out gunned, even with our Asgard weapons."

"It sounds like the perfect time to use that killer program you've been working on, Dr McKay," said Ellis.

Rodney nodded. "Yeah, it does sound like the perfect time."

"Remember when you said that all you needed was ten hours to finish it?" Ellis pressed.

"Sounds vaguely familiar," Rodney mumbled.

"It's been ten hours and a week," Ellis said. "Are you finished?"

"We're dotting some i's and crossing some t's," Emily said evasively.

"Whatever our plan is," Samantha cut in, "we need to act quickly. Our current Intel suggests that they intend to pull all their resources and build new ships. I figure we have less than a week before they head back out into the galaxy…in much greater numbers."

They all looked at Rodney.

"We should get back to the Lab," Rodney said. "Come on, Coffee Girl."

Emily gave him a sour look. "I am going to hurt you, McKay."

**Todd, Emily, Megan, Sheppard, Carter and McKay watched the screen as the simulation finished. SIMULATION FAILED.**

"**Oh, come on!" McKay growled.**

"**This is most troubling," Todd sighed.**

"**Ellis is going to love this," McKay gripped. "I don't get it; we tried reconfiguring your stand down code, we tried programming the nanites to turn themselves off. Something should have worked."**

"**They're a very complex and ingenious design," said Todd.**

"**Well, I thought I was ingenious-er," McKay pouted. "I know; it's not a real word."**

"**Maybe we can find some way to use the anti-Replicator gun somehow," Megan said.**

"**From what I've heard," said Todd, "they've almost certainly become immune to it."**

"**Even if they haven't" said Emily, "we still have to hit them in one place."**

**McKay's head shot up.**

"**What is it?" asked Todd.**

"**I think I've had my first good idea in three weeks," McKay muttered.**

"**Would you care to elaborate?" Emily said.**

"**Our old anti-Replicator technology relied to disrupting the bonds between each individual nanite cell," McKay explained. "They just collapse in a pile of dust, right?"**

"**We're familiar with the technology," Sheppard said sarcastically. "Where are you going with this, Rodney?"**

"**Well," McKay continued, "the thinking was always to continue down that line; to break the bond, turn them off or sever their connections to one another, because dust we can deal with."**

"**Doctor," Todd growled in warning. He didn't want to play games any more.**

"**Right, sorry," McKay said. "Anyway, we do the opposite."**

"**Excuse me?" Emily said.**

"**Instead of severing their connections, we significantly dial up their attraction to one another. We turn each cell into an incredibly powerful nanite magnet. As more and more nanite cells bond to the core group, they get stronger and stronger and stronger to the point where every Replicator cell on the planet and in orbit is in one giant, super-dense blob!"**

"**A super-dense blob," Carter repeated. "That's your great idea?"**

"**It is," said McKay.**

"**What do we do with the blob, then?" asked Sheppard. "Aren't we in danger of creating some Godzilla-sized super Replicator?"**

"**This isn't their normal way of bonding," Megan said, her small face lighting up as she understood what McKay was saying. "It'll take some time to adapt to function in their new parameters."**

"**How much time?" Carter asked.**

"**I prefer not to speculate," McKay admitted. "It doesn't matter anyways! They're gonna fuse together so tightly, they'd be rendered inert. I may also have to beam down into the city and pull the ZPM's, but that is bonus!"**

"**Remember," said Megan, "this bond is occurring on a sub-space level, which helps them get past the normal repulsive force between nuclei…"**

"**To the point where their electrons are messing with their protons," continued McKay. "Once that starts to happen, they're toast."**

"**Yeah, but you're talking about neutron star levels of density," Carter said.**

"**Precisely," McKay and Megan said in unison.**

"**Wow," Carter said. "This could actually work."**

"**How do we make it work then," asked Todd.**

**McKay grinned. "I have a solution."**

_Rodney took them to one of the cargo holds. Due to security risks, Todd couldn't come along._

"_Ta da!" Rodney sang, gesturing to an Ancient device. "This is what the Ancients used as part of their research into human form Replicators."_

"_What are you suggesting?" asked Samantha._

"_We have the technology," continued Rodney. "We have the understanding of nanite coding; I mean we have the Ancients blue prints for crying out loud."_

"_You want to make your own Replicator," John sighed._

"_Well, not a whole one," Megan said. "Maybe just a piece of one, say like a small cube."_

"_I don't know," Samantha said._

"_There is only one problem," Rodney said. "The Replicators on the planet will be instantaneously affected, but there will be a delay for the nanite cells in orbit."_

"_So the ships will have plenty of time to escape," John concluded._

"_Unless we disable them or destroy them," Megan said._

"_They have thirty ships," Carter pointed out, "and we have two."_

"_Well, if we don't disable them now, they'll fly away, lay low and Replicate a new army," Rodney retorted._

"_Thirty ships vs. two," Carter repeated. "It can't be done."_

_John and Emily exchanged a look and they both nodded after a few seconds._

"_We might be able to get more ships," Emily said slowly._

"**Depending on what has happened since I've been in captivity here," Todd said, "I can easily bring twelve Hive ships to the battle."**

"**Twelve ships," Sheppard repeated. "Willing to fight shoulder to shoulder?"**

"**For a chance to destroy the Replicators, of course," Todd replied.**

"**It brings the odds down two to one," Emily pointed out.**

"**An Alliance like this must be negotiated," Todd continued. "I will personally have to convince them that this is the proper course of action."**

Emily walked next to Todd as the rest of the team got into the Jumper. "You do know that the first sign you cross us…"

"I die," Todd finished. "Yes, I know. You don't trust me?"

Emily slipped her hand in his and whispered in his ear, "Not at all."

When they blasted out of the Space Gate, Emily saw that there were several of Wraith ships surrounding them. "We're dead," she muttered.

"This is different," John pointed out.

"We're receiving a transmission," said Teyla. "They're docking instructions."

"Alright," said John, "let's get this over with." He piloted the Jumper into the nearest Hive and landed in the Dart Bay. "Now what?" he asked Todd.

There was a banging coming from outside.

"You open the door," Todd replied. "Perhaps we should remove my restraints? I think it sends out the wrong message."

"This is a mistake," Ronon said.

"We need his help," John retorted. "Take them off."

Emily slid off the restraints and tossed them into a corner. "Let's go meet our hosts."

John opened the door to reveal four Wraith pointing stunners at them. "Whoa, wait a second!"

The Wraith fired.

Emily fell to the floor. "Aw, crap."

* * *

Emily felt a hand on her head as she regained consciousness. "Ouch," she croaked. She opened her eyes to see Todd leaning over her. "You better have a reasonable explanation for that."

"Be clam," Todd soothed.

"What the Hell is going on?" Emily asked as she sat up.

"Apparently, my fellow Wraith wanted to speak to me without you."

"They might have just politely asked us to stay in the Jumper," John groaned as he sat up.

"Come now," Todd said with a smile, "you never would have let me leave your sight."

"Well, we'll never know now, will we?" John snapped.

Todd sighed. "We have a deal; seven Hives will join us in the fight."

"You said twelve," Emily admonished.

"Not all of them were convinced that the mission was going to be successful," Todd replied. "Plus, many of our ships are without queens; we would be unable to create new soldiers should the need arise. If you prefer none…"

"Alright," Emily snapped, "seven it is." She held out her hand to him. Todd took it and helped her up. Emily rolled her shoulders and looked out of the cockpit window. "Are we in space?"

"The Hives have already left," Todd replied as John jumped to his feet and sat in the cockpit chair. "They jettisoned your ship before they jumped into hyperspace."

"Did anything else happen while we were unconscious?" John growled.

Todd shrugged. "I must return to Atlantis to help Dr McKay with his work."

John shook his head. "Emily, wake the others up, will you?"

**Ronon was trying to stare Todd down, but Wraith stared right back.**

"**Let it go, Ronon," Emily sighed. "Take it as a compliment; they were afraid of you."**

**Todd glanced once at her, only to see her fighting a smile.**

"**I'm detecting a hyperspace window opening," said Teyla.**

**They watched as a huge ship exited the window.**

"**Replicators!" Emily warned. "How did they find us?"**

"**I have an idea," Ronon said, glaring at Todd, who shot him a withering look.**

"**Receiving transmission," said Teyla.**

"**Sheppard that had better not be you."**

**Sheppard's eyes widened. "Larin?"**

**The screen came up and showed them a transmission of a young woman with dark clothes and hair the same shade as Emily's. She scowled at Sheppard. "What the Hell are you doing here?"**

"**What the Hell are you doing here?" Sheppard shot back.**

"**We picked up on seven Hives that were orbiting a single planet. We thought something big was going down, so we decided to do a little Intel."**

"**Yeah, well you just missed them."**

"**I can see that. Now tell me, what are you doing here? And better yet, why didn't the Wraith destroy your puny ship?"**

**Sheppard bristled. "I take great offense to that, but those are all good questions, so…we should talk."**

"**Yes, we should. Use bay 3." Larin cut off the transmission.**

"**She sounds like my kind of gal," Emily said.**

"**You two will get along just fine," Sheppard replied.**

* * *

**After Sheppard had talked with his friend Larin, the Travelers had decided to join the fight.**

**Walking to McKay's lab, Todd noticed that Emily was walking closer to Teyla.**

"**We'll meet up with you later," Emily called to the men.**

"**What's up?" asked Sheppard.**

"**I was stunned," said Teyla.**

"**We get stunned all the time, just walk it off," Sheppard pressed.**

"**Circumstances are different," Teyla muttered. "I'm carrying a child."**

**Todd could see Sheppard almost stop breathing. "Is this a joke?" He looked at Ronon, who said, "Don't look at me!"**

"**It has just happened," Teyla said.**

"**How far along are you?" asked Ronon.**

"**About three months," said Emily.**

"**Three," Sheppard repeated. "You let me put her out in the field when you've known she's three months pregnant? Teyla, you got stunned today; do you have any idea what effect that has?"**

"**That's why I'm taking her to be examined," Emily mumbled.**

"**As of this second," Sheppard said to Teyla, "you are relieved from active duty."**

"**So that brings the grand total up to fourteen," said Carter as she walked with Todd and Sheppard to McKay's lab.**

"**Yeah, it's great," Sheppard mumbled.**

**Carter raised her eyebrows. "Are you okay?"**

"**Yeah," Sheppard assured her. "I've taken Teyla off of active duty."**

"**Why?'**

"**She's pregnant," Todd replied.**

**Carter looked staggered. "Okay…who's the father?"**

"**He didn't ask," Todd said.**

"**Wow," said Carter. "It has been one Hell of a day. There's something you guys should know; McKay's thrown us a curve ball."**

"**Oh great," Sheppard growled, "I was just thinking we needed more of those today."**

"_This is not what we talked about, guys," John exploded, looking up from the security camera of the Replicator that Rodney and Megan had made._

"_Yeah, well I'm sorry," Rodney said, "but the block idea didn't fly."_

"_Do you have any idea what kind of security threat this is?" John continued._

"_It's not as bad as you think," said Megan. "I stripped down its programming as much as I possibly could without sacrificing basic viability. It can walk, talk but it cannot Replicate or change its shape."_

"_Does she know why she was created?" asked Samantha._

"_Yes."_

"_So she has a certain amount of self-awareness. Honestly, I'm not sure how comfortable I am sending her to her death."_

"_It can't die," Rodney pointed out, "it's not alive! It's a program. You don't feel sorry for your bullets or bombs, do you?"_

"_It's weird," John said flatly._

"_We don't have any other choice," said Rodney._

"_We are teaming up with the Wraith," Megan said. "It's that kind of mission."_

Emily stood next to Todd in his new Hive ship. "I still don't know why I'm here," she muttered. "I should be on the Apollo waiting for the wounded to show up."

"Colonel Ellis has his own medical officer," Todd pointed out. "I think it would be more prudent if you were to remain here with me."

"But just for the fight, yes?" Emily said.

Todd gave her a fleeting smile. "Of course. You may have a queenly bearing, but you are no Wraith."

Emily secretly liked being called queenly. "Should've brought my tiara."

"We are approaching the Replicator home world," said one of the commanders.

"Prepare to fire weapons," said Todd. "Take us out of hyperspace."

Emily braced herself at her control station. "Rodney had better be right about this."

"Your daughter was also involved," Todd pointed out.

"Yeah, don't remind me," Emily muttered. "It looks like thirty Replicator ships orbiting the planet."

"Dr Parks, do you read?" Colonel Ellis said over Emily's headset.

"Loud and clear, Colonel," Emily responded.

"We have beamed the Replicator and Dr McKay's team to the surface."

"Thank you, Colonel." Emily turned to Todd. "There's our cue."

"Launch the Darts," Todd commanded.

"Heavy damage in interior section," one of the Wraith said.

"Transferring power from non-critical systems to Hull regeneration," said Emily. "God, that is so cool."

"Hey, Emily," said Caldwell over the headset, "we just saved your asses up here."

Emily sighed. "Thank you for that update, Colonel. Please concentrate on the job at hand."

"Emily," Todd said, "are you seeing this?"

Emily looked up from her station. "Whoa. The crazy son of a bitch did it." She looked down at her consul. "Hang on a second. I'm reading a massive black out in the Replicator city."

"What does that mean?" asked Todd.

"They can't overload the ZPM's," Emily gasped.

"Dr Parks," Ellis snapped, "you're daughter said that this would work! Do you mean to tell me that I was…"

Emily made a crackling sound. "Sorry, Colonel, you're breaking…can't hear…must be some damage…communications array…"

She jerked off her headset and turned it off. She noticed the Wraith all staring at her. "What? I get annoyed sometimes, too."

"We're receiving a transmission from one of the Earth ships," a commander said. "They're saying that the planet is going to implode and we should retreat to the rendezvous point."

"Then let's beat it," Emily said.

"What's the status on the Darts?" asked Todd.

"They're on their way back," the Wraith replied.

"The Replicator mass is sinking into the planet," Emily said. "We don't really have a lot of time."

"We're not leaving without those Darts," Todd snapped.

"She is right," said the Wraith. "The mass is reaching critical density. An explosion is imminent."

"I really think we should get outta here," Emily pressed.

"The Darts are in the bay," said the Wraith.

"Get us out of here," Todd said calmly.

"**So, now we're back to being enemies," said Emily as she and Todd stood alone on the Hive bridge. "You can always drop by and say hello every now and again."**

**Todd smiled and rested his cheek on her head. "You would appreciate that, wouldn't you?"**

**Emily looked up at him with a sparkle in her green eyes. "We could have some fun."**

**Todd chuckled. "I wouldn't mind that." He leaned down and kissed her lightly.**

"**Dr Parks, are you ready to beam aboard?"**

**Emily scowled against Todd's lips. "Your timing sucks, Ellis."**

"**I'm sure the Wraith has other things to do than make out with you, doctor."**

**Todd growled. "Perhaps I should stay away for a few weeks. Let things settle down first."**

**Emily sighed. "Don't take too long." She kissed his cheek then pulled back. "Beam me up, Apollo."**

**Todd watched until Emily disappeared off his ship. "Now…it's time to complete my mission."**


	5. Spoils of War

SPOILS OF WAR

"_What's up?" asked Megan as she skipped into the Control Room and looked over Rodney's shoulder._

"_It looks like the Wraith are splitting into groups," said Rodney. "Kind of sizing each other up. Hey, is that pecan pie?"_

_Megan scooped up the last bite. "It was. There's some more in the Mess Hall. What's that?"_

_Rodney sighed. "It's your mom's boyfriend calling."_

"_Excuse me?"_

_Megan snorted as Emily walked up behind them. "Hi, Ma. Rodney was just telling me about your alien boyfriend."_

"_He's not my boyfriend," Emily said, slapping Rodney upside the head. "What about Todd?"_

"_I think he's sending us a message," said Rodney. "I mean, he knows we're monitoring his sub space transceiver frequency, so…"_

"_He could be in trouble," Mega finished._

"_Or he found some exotic flower to give to you," Rodney said to Emily._

_Emily gave him a sour look. "Ha, ha, ha. Very funny."_

"Any change?" asked John as he, Emily and Rodney walked back up to the Control Room after dinner.

"No," said Radik, "he's still sitting there."

"It's been almost twenty-four hours," said Emily. "His ship could be disabled."

"Is it a distress call?" asked John.

"Maybe," conceded Rodney.

"How far did you say the nearest Gate was?" John asked slowly.

"An hour by Jumper," Rodney informed. "Oh no. Look, I know we've worked with this guy before and Emily is…involved with him, but he's a Wraith. We don't seriously think we owe him anything, do we?"

"Of course not," said John. "But that does not mean it's not worth checking out."

Emily watched from the corner of her eye as Teyla walked in as the team got ready to leave. "This should be good," she murmured to Lorne, who smirked.

"Teyla," John greeted.

"Colonel," Teyla said in return. "I would like to accompany you on this mission."

"We got it covered," John replied, not looking at her.

Teyla glanced at Emily, who said, "John, as her doctor, I say Teyla is quite fit to be in the field."

"I didn't ask you, Em," John growled.

"My skills have not diminished," Teyla said. "And I still have much to offer the team."

John looked pointedly at Lorne, who nodded. "Alright, guys, let's head out."

Emily sighed and followed Ronon and Rodney out the door.

* * *

Emily looked out of the Jumper window at the Hive. "Is that hull damage?"

Rodney pulled up a schematic. "It looks like it's been shot up pretty bad."

"From the Replicator battle?" asked Ronon.

Rodney shook his head. "I'm picking up residual radiation from Wraith weapons fire."

"They were attacked by another Hive," Lorne said.

"Well it looks that way," Rodney said with a hint of annoyance.

"Are there any life signs?" Emily asked in a constricted voice.

"I'm not picking up anything," Rodney said.

"They may be hibernating," John said with a pitying glance at Emily.

"They usually land to do that," Rodney pointed out, earning himself a warning punch from Ronon.

"Well, we didn't come all this way for nothing," John said. "We're going in."

"Lorne, do you have anything?" John asked.

"Nothing so far," Lorne replied on the other side of the Hive.

"We've got bodies," said Ronon ahead of John.

Emily bent over them. "Ugh, they've been fed on."

"I'm still picking up the Wraith tracking device," Rodney said.

Emily looked at his Ancient device. "It's coming from the bridge."

"How do you know?" asked Ronon.

"I've been aboard before," Emily replied. "It's this way."

"The reading is getting stronger," Rodney muttered as they entered the bridge.

"I don't see Todd," said John.

"We're not going to find him," Rodney said despairingly.

"Let's be a little optimistic, Rodney," John said forcefully.

"That's not what I mean," Rodney snapped. He bent down and picked up something off the floor; it was Todd's transmitter… covered in blood. "Someone cut it out of him."

"What do we do now?" asked Lorne.

"That depends," John said. "Is this thing gonna fly?"

Rodney nodded. "With a bit of work and some help, I can make it happen."

John smiled. "We got ourselves a new ship!"

* * *

_Megan tossed Lorne, Ronon and Rodney some military food bars. "Compliments of Stargate Command."_

"_Thank you," sighed Rodney. "I am starving! Hold up…Apricot Jubilee?"_

_Megan held out her hand. "If you don't want it…"_

"_It's fine," said Rodney. He tore open the package and dug in._

"_So how are we doing in here?" Megan asked, eating her Blueberry Surprise._

"_It's coming along," replied Rodney. "I got the Hyperdrive operational, but it's not going to help much if I can't get the neural interface to work."_

_The view screen suddenly turned on._

_Both Megan and Rodney turned to Ronon. "What did you do?"_

"_Nothing," Ronon said innocently._

"_You touched something, didn't you?" Megan snapped walking over to the consol Ronon was standing by._

"_No," Ronon repeated. "Well, maybe just a little."_

"_What is it?" asked Lorne._

"_It looks like a map," said Ronon._

"_Thank you Captain Obvious," Rodney said briskly. "Of course it's a map."_

"How's it coming?" asked John as he walked into the bridge with Emily and Teyla.

"We managed to get the neural interface back online," said Megan from under one of the control stations. "The biggest problem so far is the weapons, which is what I'm trying to do right now."

Emily sighed. "My eight year old daughter is a Miracle Worker."

Megan giggled. "I'm no Scotty, but I can fix a Hive."

"Wait a second," said John, "why the weapons array?"

"We thought it would come in handy when we go after the Wraith," replied Rodney.

"Why would we do that?" John asked.

"Well, because I found out where the ship was heading before it was attacked; some top secret Wraith outpost."

"Whatever the thing is," Megan inputted, "they talked about it like it was sacred. Apparently, it played a pivotal role in the war against the Ancients."

"Slow down," said John, "we don't even know if this thing can fly, let alone…"

The ship gave a sudden lurch forward, sending sparks flying over Megan.

"Ouch!" the girl growled, ducking out of the consul. "What was that?"

"I think it was me," said Teyla at the main station.

"Navigation and propulsion just came online," said Emily.

"This is weird," muttered John.

"Can you fly it?" asked Ronon.

"I'm not sure," said Teyla. She closed her eyes and the Hive began to move forward. "The coordinates are in the computer. I can take us the outpost."

"Alright," muttered John. "Get us close, but keep us out of sensor range."

* * *

"Anything?" John asked as the Jumper neared the planet.

"We should be in sensor range…now," said Rodney. "Oh, there's a Space Gate."

"What, now you're telling me this?" John gripped.

"I didn't know," Rodney shot back.

"Is there anything else?" Emily asked.

"I'm picking up an energy reading on the surface," said Rodney.

"Do you have any idea what it is?"

"No, but there's something else; a Hive ship in orbit."

"Well," muttered John, "at least we didn't miss the party."

* * *

"How big is this place?" asked John as they walked into the Wraith outpost.

"Who knows," murmured Emily. She looked around a corner and froze. "Uh, guys? What the Hell is this?"

They looked over her shoulder. "It's a queen," said Rodney.

Emily sighed. "Nice work, Sherlock, but what's she doing?"

"I have no idea."

"Sheppard," Ronon hissed. He pointed his gun at a wall.

Emily walked over to it. "It's a Wraith pod."

"Ugh, that is just revolting," Rodney muttered.

"Check this out," said Ronon, walking to a bigger pod.

Emily brushed past him and raised a medical device. "Oh, Jennifer and I are going to have a field day with this new information!"

"We got company," hissed John.

Ronon grabbed Emily by the collar and dragged her behind a wall. Three Wraith came into view and stopped in front of the larger pod. They cut open the sac and a mature Wraith fell out into their arms.

"Put him with the others," the commander said.

"I am definatly going to have nightmares about that," Rodney whimpered.

"Is this some kind of Wraith Farm?" asked John as they continued thru the compound.

"It looks like it," Emily said. "The queen secretes genetic material, which gets distributed to the pods and presto; a new born Wraith."

"The one thing I don't understand is why here?" said Rodney. "We always assumed that this took place on their Hive ships. What's so special about this place?"

"I think I have an idea," said Ronon hoarsely, looking around a corner.

Emily looked over his shoulder. "Oh, my God.

What they were looking at were thousands of pods.

"I'm patched into the Wraith consul," said Rodney. "I have internal schematics. Whoa! If I'm reading this right, there are over a hundred chambers like this one."

* * *

"This doesn't make any sense," said Emily as the team moved out again. "There's no way a single queen can create enough genetic material for all those pods."

"Maybe there's more than one," Ronon suggested.

"Queens don't work together," Emily said. "At least, as far as we know."

"This place was built to create some kind of Wraith army and we can't let that happen," said John.

"I doubt our C4 is going to make a dent in a place this size," hissed Rodney.

"So we fire at it from orbit," said Ronon.

"Theoretically, that could work," said Rodney. "But unless Megan can get the weapons online and working, it won't matter."

* * *

**Todd heard the footsteps coming his way. So…he would meet his demise and without kissing Emily goodbye or hugging little Megan. He probably deserved it, betraying them like he had. Ugh, he was producing a conscience!**

**Two soldiers walked up and opened his cell.**

"**I believe I'm about to receive my reward," he said scornfully.**

**The soldiers raised their weapons.**

"**So be it!" Todd snarled.**

**Two red beams hit the soldiers and they crumpled to the floor, dead. Todd looked up in confusion, which turned into wonder. "Emily!"**

**Emily smiled at him. "Hey, stranger."**

"**How did you find me?" asked Todd, hugging her.**

"**We followed them," said Sheppard, nudging the soldiers with his foot.**

"**You picked up my signal," said Todd. "I wasn't sure you'd come."**

"**Emily all but ripped out our throats to come," Sheppard retorted. "Besides, what are friends for?"**

**Emily looked up at Todd. "What do you know about this place?"**

_Megan made to get up, but she hit her head on the consul. Spitting out curses in Gaelic, she got to her feet, rubbing the forming bump. "Okay, these weapons are so not cooperating!"_

"_Perhaps you need to rest," said Teyla._

_Megan shook her head. "I need to keep busy; it keeps me from worrying."_

_Teyla held out her arms and Megan climbed onto her lap. "Your mother will be fine. She has faced much worse than this."_

_Megan blinked in surprise. "She has?"_

_Teyla nodded. "Oh, yes. Have you ever heard of Kolya, the Genii?"_

_Megan shook her head. "Ma doesn't tell me stories about her other missions."_

_Teyla smiled. "Well, it's because of Kolya that your mother met Todd…"_

"**Emily is quite correct," said Todd. "It would be impossible for a queen to bring in so many warriors all at once, except for artificial means. The queen creates a handful of warriors; each is which produced a thousand times over. This is a cloning facility."**

"**That's why it was a key to the victory over the Ancients," said Emily. "We always knew they did it with greater numbers, we just never knew where they came from."**

"**Aren't there too many Wraith in the galaxy already?" asked Sheppard. "A couple of weeks ago when we were fighting the Replicators it made sense, but why now?"**

**Todd sighed. "We didn't use this facility during the Replicator war because we didn't have the means to power it. The energy requirements are enormous."**

"**ZPM's," muttered McKay. "He's talking about ZPM's."**

"**I managed to acquire a few before the Replicator planet was destroyed," said Todd.**

**Emily took a step back from him. "You manipulated us. You manipulated me!"**

"**My intention was to create an army to wipe out the other Wraith," Todd assured her. "I was betrayed by one of my crew. They informed another Hive of my plans."**

"**This is good news," said McKay. "It means all we have to do to shut this place down is get our hands on the ZPM's."**

"**And I know where they are," said Todd. "I'm sure you haven't come all this way just to rescue me, but it would be in your best interest if you did."**

**Emily narrowed her eyes at him. Todd knew that whatever relationship there had been between them now had a rift.**

"**Alright," said Sheppard. "Let's go."**

**Todd led them to where the ZPM's were being held. "Thru there."**

"**We'll see if it's clear," said Sheppard. "You three stay here." He and Ronon walked away, leaving Todd with McKay and Emily.**

"**There's one thing I don't understand," said McKay. "Back when you defeated the Ancients, how did you get your hands on the ZPM?"**

"**Atlantians were powerful, but careless," replied Todd. "They believed their ships were unbeatable so they sent their ships deeper and deeper into Wraith territory. It took months, but eventually we were able to capture three of them; each one powered by a ZPM."**

"**Which brought you back here," said Emily.**

"**Within weeks, or army had grown to hundreds of times its original size," Todd continued. "From that point on, the war turned in our favor."**

"**Save the history lesson for later," said Sheppard as he and Ronon returned. "Let's go."**

**They walked along the corridors. They were almost to the ZPM room when the alarm went off.**

"**They've discovered my absence," said Todd.**

"**We're gonna have to move quickly," said Sheppard.**

"**Get down!" shouted Ronon just before other Wraith attacked them.**

"**This way!" Todd barked. He grabbed Emily by the hand and pulled her along.**

"**John!" Emily called.**

**Todd looked back to see McKay, Sheppard and Ronon fall to the stunners. "We must hurry!"**

"**We can't leave them!" Emily persisted.**

**Todd glared at her. "We have to."**

**Emily stared at him then hung her head in submission. Todd led her to the Dart Hangar. "We can get to the Spacegate in one of these."**

"**Megan is on your ship," Emily said. "She got it flying again and is orbiting one of the moons."**

**Todd nodded. "Very well, we'll return to my ship." He got into one of the Darts and Emily followed him. "This is only big enough for one," he pointed out.**

**Emily rolled her eyes. "We can squeeze." She sat down between his legs and wriggled a bit. "I am not spending any time in Wraith storage."**

**Todd sighed and wrapped his arms around her to reach the consuls. "This is comfortable enough."**

**Emily frowned, but Todd could see that she was fighting a smile. "Down boy, we're on a mission."**

**Todd smiled and whispered in her ear, "Whatever you say."**

**Todd loved when Emily shuddered in his arms.**

"_What's up?" asked Lorne._

"_I have detected a Dart coming up on our position," said Teyla._

_The view screen came to life. It was Todd...and Emily squished next to him._

"_If you shoot us, Teyla, I'll haunt you until your dying day," Emily growled._

"_You're in a good mood," said Megan brightly._

"_I'm squished between a Wraith and a Dart consul," Emily explained. "I am not in a good mood. Look, Colonel Sheppard and the others were taken by the Wraith. Todd and I managed to escape, but we have to hurry if we're going to save them."_

"_I'm opening the Dart Bay doors," replied Teyla._

"_Okay," said Megan. "Uh, that other Hive is coming up real fast on us."_

"_Are the weapons working?" asked Lorne._

_Megan ducked under the weapons consul again. "I think I'm almost finished, but even if I am, how are we gonna save Rodney and the others?"_

"_I might have an idea," said Teyla._

* * *

"What did she say?" asked Todd.

"She's not talking to us," Emily murmured, kneeling next to Teyla. "She's attempting to take control of the queen's mind."

Megan muttered under breath in Gaelic as she worked on the weapons.

"Who I am does not matter," said Teyla. "What matters is that I am stronger than you. Even now I am gaining control of your body. I do not need forever, now get up! Turn right."

After a few seconds, Teyla gasped and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Teyla," Emily muttered, placing a hand on the other womans' arm. "Teyla, what can I do?"

Emily spasmed and she felt the queens' consciousness.

* * *

"_What's going on?" asked Megan._

"_I think Emily is helping Teyla," said Lorne uncertainly._

_Megan ducked out from under the consul. "Okay, Ma, you've successfully creeped me out." She ducked back under the consul._

_Todd knelt next to Emily watching as her face tightened._

"_Stay away!" Teyla snarled._

"_I won't let her touch you," Emily growled. She gasped and doubled over._

"_Emily?" Todd hissed. "Emily, snap out of it!"_

"_Back off, bitch!" Emily growled._

"_Whoa, Ma," said Megan._

_Teyla groaned and clutched at her stomach. "No…"_

"_I said back off!" Emily snarled and lashed out with her hand._

"_Here are your weapons," Teyla muttered. "It's me John. Yes. You must leave; I don't know how much longer I can hold her." She whimpered in pain. "John! Help me!"_

_Teyla suddenly gasped and pulled out of the queens' mind._

_Emily gave a start and collapsed into Todd's arms. "Oh, that was not fun."_

"_Are you alright?" asked Todd._

_Emily lurched out of his arms and sat next to Teyla. "Are you okay? Did she…?"_

_Teyla shook her head. "I don't know. I saw Colonel Sheppard and the others, but…"_

"_Did they get away?" asked Lorne._

"_The queen," Teyla whimpered. "She was…was going after my child!"_

"_Just take it easy," Emily soothed. "It's okay. Everything's going to be fine."_

"_Major," Todd called, looking up as the view screen came to life. "The other Hive has found us."_

"_Fantastic," Megan growled under her breath. "Okay, I have the weapons ready."_

_Todd looked at the controls. "They're operating at minimum level."_

"_Well, it's the best I can do," Megan shot back._

_Todd growled and slipped his hands into the controls. "The Hive ship will be here momentarily, we need to leave now!"_

"_Not until our people get back," Lorne said stubbornly._

"_We can't survive an attack," Todd informed him._

"_Uh, guys?" said Megan. "The Hive has entered weapons range."_

"_Major Lorne, come in." It was Sheppard._

"_John, where are you?" Teyla asked._

"_We're on our way."_

"_Make it fast," Megan said. "The Hive is shooting at us!"_

"_Can you hold them off?"_

"_Not for long," Todd growled._

"_They're in," Megan reported. "Colonel, request permission to jump to hyperspace."_

"_Negative," Sheppard replied. "I have a better idea. Teyla, I want you to set a new course."_

* * *

"So what happened to Todd?" Radek Zelenka asked as he, Emily and Megan walked to the Control Room.

"He took a Dart," Emily replied. "After we decided to, ah, break it off."

Megan sighed. "He'll come back, Ma. He always does."

"She has a point," said Radik.

Emily caught sight of Teyla standing out on the balcony. She walked out to her. "Did you talk with Jennifer?"

Teyla nodded. "Yes, she said that everything is fine. At least, physically."

Emily touched Teyla's shoulder. "It's over now, honey. We can relax."

Teyla shook her head. "I exposed my unborn child to the mind of a killer even before he's opened his eyes on the world."

"He," Emily repeated. "I thought you didn't want Jen to tell you anything."

Teyla shrugged. "She didn't."

Emily frowned. "No," she agreed slowly. "No, I guess she didn't need to."

Teyla took a deep breath. "John was right to question my involvement on this mission. I have other considerations now."

"It's understandable," said Emily.

Teyla brushed back her tears. "You felt how close she came to distinguishing his life. You protected him, Emily."

Emily shifted. "Yeah, I still don't get that part. How did I touch her mind?"

Teyla shook her head. "I do not know. What I do know, is that I am indebted to you."

Emily took Teyla by the shoulders. "Teyla, what I did, I did because you're my friend."

Teyla smiled and hugged Emily, who hugged back.

"Do you want something to eat?" Emily asked when they pulled apart.

Teyla nodded and they walked towards the Mess Hall.

"I also did it to kick the queens' ass," Emily added.

The two women laughed and linked arms.


	6. The Kindred

THE KINDRED

"As you know, we've been tracking a new sickness in the Pegasus Galaxy," Emily explained to Samantha. "We don't know exactly when nor where it started, but so far we've been encountered it on seven different planets."

"Make that eight," said John, walking into the Sick Bay. "We've just come from M-447; they've got it, too."

"The same symptoms?" Emily asked.

"It started with repertory difficulty, said Rodney, "and then most of the vital organs shut down."

"Do we have any idea on how it spread?" Samantha asked.

"Well that's the strange part," Emily said, turning to her medical screen. "Most of these planets have no regular contact with each other, but a few of them do have regular contact with neighboring planets, but they've been completely unaffected."

"So far," John added.

"How bad is this going to get?" asked Samantha.

Emily shrugged. "If I had to make a prediction, I would base it on the evidence on M-1R992. They've been no new cases there for some time, which seems to indicate the sickness has run its' course."

"And…?" Samantha pressed.

Emily frowned. "It killed thirty percent of the population. If those numbers bear out on the rest of these planets, we're looking at a death toll of about 200,ooo and that's assuming it doesn't spread any further."

* * *

_Megan skipped her way down the halls of Atlantis and into the Mess Hall, holding a present behind her back. She saw Teyla sitting by herself and moved towards her. "Hi!"_

"_Hello, Megan," Teyla greeted. "Has your mother made any progress with her investigation?"_

"_Unfortunately not," Megan replied. "But Ma's never been a quitter."_

_Teyla glanced at the present in Megan's hands. "What are you hiding?"_

_Megan smiled. "Rodney and I put this together for you."_

_Teyla took the present. "You did not have to do this."_

_Megan smiled. "Well think of it as a kind of pre-baby present. Back on Earth, there's this company that produces recording specifically for the unborn child. The belief is that by listening to the works of, say, a great composer while still in the womb, the baby will be born to a natural disposition to music, or, in this case, science."_

_Teyla picked up the headphones. "Science?"_

_Megan grimaced. "Enter Rodney McKay's contribution; he recorded some of his 'brilliant' ideas, accomplishments, theories, etcetera, etcetera."_

_Teyla smiled and hugged her. "You should not have gone to so much trouble."_

"_It's no trouble at all," assured Megan. She watched as a frown slid onto Teyla's face. "Is there something wrong?"_

_Teyla looked around. "I was debating whether or not to tell anyone."_

_Megan sat down next to her. "Well, as far as most of these people here are concerned, I'm not exactly anyone."_

_Teyla smiled slightly. "I believe I had a vision last night."_

_Megan blinked. "A vision? Cool, what about?"_

"_I saw Kanan," Teyla explained, "the father of my son. I believe he was trying to send me a message that he's alive and that I should not abandon my search for him or our people."_

_Megan shifted slightly. "And this was when you were sleeping?"_

_Teyla sighed. "Do you think it was a dream?"_

_Megan shrugged. "It's possible."_

"_I believe it was more than that," Teyla said. "It did not feel like a dream."_

_Megan was silent and Teyla sighed again. "I knew you would doubt me, I shouldn't have said anything."_

"_Hey," Megan said, "I've been abducted by my dead-beat father, rescued by an alien that sucks the life force out of people thru his hand and my mother is infatuated with said alien, so who am I to judge? If you say it was a vision then I believe it was a vision."_

"_I seriously doubt it was a vision," Megan said as she walked with John and Rodney._

"_She's had them before," John pointed out._

"_She's had remote contact with the Wraith," Rodney pointed out, "never another human. Besides, those Athosians have been missing for, like, six months now. Do you really think they're still alive?"_

"_What do want me to do, Rodney," John asked, "tell her to give up hope?"_

"_At some point she may not have a choice," Megan said._

* * *

"She says the pendant in her vision was the same one she gave to Kanan before he disappeared," Emily explained to John and Samantha.

"So what's the significance?" Samantha asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," Emily admitted.

"What does she want, exactly?"

"She wants to go to the shop in the village where she bought the pendant," John replied. "It's on M2R-117."

"That's a peaceful trading village," Samantha argued. "I'd be very surprised if they had anything to do with the disappearance of the Athosians."

"That's what I said," put in Emily, "but she still wants to go. She thinks that Kanan is sending her a message or a clue."

"And what do you think?" asked Samantha.

"It doesn't matter," said John. "It's Teyla; we owe her one."

"Hey," said Samantha, entering the medical lab. "I heard you have something."

"Yeah," growled Emily, her eyebrows coming together in a scowl. "I found out what's making these people sick and it's something we've encountered before." She got up and tapped one of the screens. "It's a unique protein originally created by the inhabitants of a planet called Hoff. It was designed to interfere with the Wraith feeding mechanism, making them immune in the process."

"It also killed the feeding Wraith and half the people who took it," Samantha finished. "So this isn't some contagion that spreads naturally."

"No," agreed Emily. "This is mass murder."

* * *

"_Are you sure it's the same protein?" Megan asked, looking at the picture of the cell._

"_I ran a side by side comparison," Emily answered. "They were almost exactly identical."_

"_Almost?" Megan repeated._

"_We're dealing with a new and improved version. The Hoffman drug killed roughly fifty percent of the test subjects and this one only kills thirty percent."_

"_That's still thirty percent too many," said Rodney. "How did the populations of eight different planets get inoculated with the same drug and not even know about it?"_

"_Possibly, it was administered thru the food and water supply," Emily explained._

"_So who's behind this?" Megan asked. "Have the Hoffman's resumed distribution of the drug?"_

"_They haven't been doing much of anything lately," Rodney contradicted. "When the Wraith discovered what they were up to, the whole civilization was wiped out."_

"_Maybe a few survived and they're planning a little payback," suggested Emily. "But the random distribution of this drug is clear and calculated. It's obviously intended to throw the Wraith completely off balance; they've no idea which of their food sources has been infected."_

"_So it's just a matter of time before they become hungry and cranky," concluded Megan._

* * *

"And you weren't sleeping?" Emily asked.

"I was in a meditative state," Teyla admitted, "but I was most definatly awake. There can be no doubt; this is real."

"But you've already been to the planet," Samantha said. "I want to believe you Teyla, I really do, but I'm a scientist; we're trained to think critically."

"There is a possible explanation," said Teyla. "Kanan has the Gift, the same ability that I do. Among my people, the Gift is considered useful, but it also sets one apart. It can be difficult, but Kanan was the only one who truly understood what it felt like."

"It brought you together," Emily said quietly.

"It has been something we've shared since childhood," Teyla agreed.

"But have you ever communicated this way before?" asked Samantha.

"No," Teyla admitted. "I know what this looks like, but I assure you I am not seeing or believing what I wish to."

Samantha looked at Emily, who nodded. "Alright. Major Lorne will accompany you."

"Do you mind if I go, too?" asked Emily.

"What about your investigation?" Teyla protested.

Emily smiled. "Jennifer can handle it."

* * *

_Megan stared around the village with wide eyes. Emily hadn't been able to come, but Megan was thrilled to step out of Atlantis. "This reminds me of the flee markets back home," she said. "Grandpa would always take me out Sundays and we found a lot of junk."_

_Teyla suddenly stopped._

"_What is it?" asked Lorne._

_Teyla didn't answer, but she drew a knife and walked over to a vender holding a pendant. She grabbed his wrist and held the knife at his throat. "I will ask you once, and you will answer me truthfully; where did you get this pendant?"_

"_From a trader," the vender replied. "If you like it that much, it's yours with my blessing."_

"_Do you recognize it?" asked Megan._

"_It belonged to Kanan," Teyla replied. "What else did you acquire from this trader?"_

_The vender reached for a wooden box and held it out._

"_This necklace belonged to Balera," said Teyla. "And this ring belonged to Halling."_

"_Ma's friend?" Megan said. "The one who gave her that gave her that leather bracelet?"_

"_When was the last time you saw this trader?" asked Lorne._

"_Several days ago," the vender replied. "He comes thru here regularly, in fact, he might just drop by today."_

_After a while of waiting, Lorne tapped Megan's shoulder. "It looks like our friend is here."_

_Megan rolled her shoulders and got ready for a probable fight. She and Lorne walked over to the vender, who was examining the merchandise the trader had brought._

"_Would you mind telling me where you got this stuff?" said Lorne._

_The trader took one look at them and bolted._

"_You scared him off," said Megan and raced after the trader. She jumped onto a table and tackled the trader from behind. Teyla pounced out of nowhere and hit the guy right in the face, knocking him out._

"_Nice one," said Megan._

* * *

Emily walked behind John and Ronon as they entered the Wraith building. "Remind me why you brought me along?"

"Because you and Todd are dating, remember?" said John.

"Were dating," Emily shot back. "Past tense; were dating. Besides, it was only one…maybe a few kisses."

"Ugh," Ronon groaned. "Please change the subject. Hey, I got something."

Emily peeked over his shoulder to see a pile of Wraith stacked together unceremoniously. She knelt down and examined them. "They're dead," she said. "But I can't see any marks on them."

"That's because they were poisoned," said a familiar voice.

They all jumped and raised their weapons as Todd stepped around a corner. "And I suspect you already know how."

"Well, let me guess," said John. "It was something they ate."

"Many of my fellow Wraith have fallen victim to this attack on our food supply," said Todd.

"That's a shame," said Emily sarcastically. "But it's not really our problem."

"From what we've been able to surmise, this blow against us has been delivered a great cost to human lives," said Todd. "Something you would've made your 'problem' in the past, Emily. Unless, of course, you're responsible for this merciless plague, in which case, you may well consider the human life sacrifice acceptable."

"Actually," Emily said thru tight lips, "we're putting together a list of most likely suspects. You were at the top. What better way to stick it to your competition?"

Todd chuckled. "Effective, yes, and admittedly creative, but the truth is; all the existing Wraith factions have been adversely affected by this. Our food supply has been so randomly tainted; we have no way of knowing if our next meal will be our last."

"Alright," said John, "times are tough, but that doesn't explain why you called us here."

Todd shifted his weight. "I brought you here because…I need your help."

"I'm sorry, what?" asked Emily, cupping her hand around her ear.

Todd bared his teeth. "I need your help. I'm aware you had a hand in helping the Hoffman's refine this drug. I require whatever research you possess in order for me to synthesize a cure for this disease for my Hive and my Hive alone."

"Well that's not gonna happen," said Emily.

"You always say that," said Todd, "and yet, you always come around."

"Well this is different," said Emily. "We're still a little upset over the whole Earth conquest thing."

Todd's smug smile fell. "I had no part in that."

"Actually," said Rodney, "in an indirect way, you did. The Wraith who led the attack was able to access the Midway station with information that you stole on your last visit to Atlantis."

"Information he stole from me in turn," Todd shot back. "In a way, we're both victims. But let's save our commiserations for another time. I have a proposal; in exchange for this information I will give you the identity of the individual responsible for distributing this poison."

"Huh," said Ronon. "A couple of minutes ago, you thought we did it."

Todd rolled his eyes. "There are only two parties that possess the resources and capabilities to launch this attack. If you are not responsible then, by process of elimination, there can be only one."

* * *

"_The first thing we do is radio back to Atlantis," said Lorne as they walked back to the Stargate with the trader in tow. "Listen, Teyla, I know you're looking for answers about what happened to your people, but I'm thinking that maybe it would be better if you and Megan went back to Atlantis and let us check it out, okay?"_

"_Hell no," said Megan stubbornly._

"_I agree," said Teyla. Whatever she was about to say next was drowned out by a horribly familiar droning sound._

"_Dart!" warned Lorne._

_Everyone scattered. Teyla grabbed Megan and pulled her with her, but the trader grabbed them both and the Dart swooped down and beamed the three of them up into it._

* * *

**Todd turned the corner of the facility to see Sheppard and his team aim their guns at the two soldiers dragging a dead Wraith. "Don't mind them; they're just here to help with the clean-up. I assume you've agreed to my terms."**

"**Not exactly," said Sheppard.**

"**You do not wish to know who is responsible for these unfortunate events," asked Todd, mildly surprised.**

"**We already know," said Emily. Her voice was rough and it looked like she'd been crying recently. "We call him Michael."**

"**Don't ask," said Sheppard. "He used to be a Wraith, now he's…something else."**

**Todd nodded. "I know of whom you speak and I believe you are correct."**

"**Confirmation," said Emily in a surprised tone. "Without us giving you anything, that's very generous of you."**

"**Obviously there's more you want from me or you would not have come," said Todd.**

"**Maybe we just came to kill ya," said Ronon.**

**Todd tensed. "Did you?"**

"**Unfortunately, no," growled Sheppard.**

"**Well, there's always next time," said Todd.**

**Emily stepped forward, her green eyes burning. "Teyla was taken by a Dart today. This was no Culling, she was targeted, and someone set a trap."**

"**And you suspect that it was this Michael?"**

**Emily blinked and her eyes glistened with tears. "They took Megan, too."**

**Todd hissed softly. Little Megan. Sweet, smart, little Megan…**

"**I need you to tap into your Intel sources," Emily said. She pulled out a tablet and held it out to him. "This has a Gate address on an off-world relay station; if you leave us a message, we'll get it. It also has our research on the Hoffman drug."**

**Todd examined the research. "I'll see what I can do."**

**Emily opened her mouth, closed it then opened it again. "Please…help me find her again."**

**Todd briefly ran his fingers along her cheekbone. "I'll do my best."**

**Sheppard turned and they left. "You sure you two aren't still dating?" he asked Emily.**

"**Oh shut up," Emily muttered.**

* * *

_Megan held her chin in her hands, bored as she and Teyla were held on the Wraith ship. So it was Michael. Megan hadn't met him before, but Emily always avoided talking about him._

"_Ma's never gonna let me go off-world now," Megan sighed. "That's assuming we even get back."_

_Teyla frowned. "I think you've been spending too much time with Rodney. He's rubbed off on you."_

_Megan smiled. "Yeah. Oh no. I never got to finish telling him about the new modifications I had planned for the city's cloak."_

_Someone moved to their cell door._

"_I told you, I'm not hungry," Teyla growled. She looked up and her face lit up. "Kanan."_

_Megan looked up. "Oh thank God, we found you!" She peered closer at him. Kanan was still human, but there was something Wraith-like about him._

"_What has he done to you?" Teyla growled. Kanan just stared. "Kanan, it's me, Teyla! I came for you, just like you asked."_

"_Like I asked," said Michael, walking up next to Kanan. "I was the one in your visions, appropriately disguised, of course."_

"_You're lying," Teyla hissed._

"_I reached across ten thousand light years of space and touched your mind," said Michael. "There is more than a bond between us than you know. Once the child is born, the bond will grow even stronger." He looked between Teyla and Kanan. "Enjoy your reunion." He left._

"_Kanan," said Teyla, "you must help us. You must help our child!"_

"_The child will serve the cause," said Kanan flatly and he, too, left._

* * *

Emily and Jennifer walked into the Gate Room where Samantha was waiting. "What's the big emergency?"

Samantha shrugged. "Sheppard said that he was bringing back an old friend."

"They're ready beam down," said one of the controllers.

John, Rodney, Ronon and Lorne beamed down along with…

"Carson!" exclaimed Emily.

Carson Beckett smiled at her. "Hello, Emily, it's great to see you."

Emily laughed and hugged him. "My God! I don't believe this!"

* * *

"I'm sorry about all this, Carson," said Emily thru the biosuits' communication device.

"It's alright," Carson assured her. "I realize there are protocols for someone who's been a prisoner for a long time. In fact, I wrote it. Although, if you take much more blood, I just might faint."

"That's the last batch," said Jennifer.

"You should also check my tracheal cortex," said Carson. "Michael's been giving me regular injections of some sort of drug cocktail. Mostly sedatives, I think."

"Alright," said Emily. She walked up to the observation area to where John, Ronon and Rodney were standing. "Well, we've completed the palimary exam. Every test we run confirms it; that man down there is Doctor Carson Beckett."

"Have you spoken to Todd?" Samantha asked as she, Emily and John walked to her office.

"He claims he's given all he knows about Michael," said John, "but I assume he's lying."

"So we need to find Intel somewhere else," Emily concluded. "Carson has been inside Michael's operations and he may know something."

"Or he could've been planted there for us to find," said Samantha. "For all we know, this whole thing could be a set up. Emily, John, the Carson Beckett you knew was killed. You were all there. I'm sorry to say it, but you need you remember that."

* * *

_Megan thought her scowl would remain permanently etched on her face. Michael, Kanan and three other Hybrids escorted Megan and Teyla from the landed Hive ship along a destroyed city._

"_What is this place?" Teyla asked._

"_Just another dead world," Michael responded cryptically. "Destroyed by the Wraith, abandoned by the survivors and forgotten by both. A perfect place to conduct my work."_

_They entered a large complex and Michael led them to a large sliding door. "Open it," he ordered the two guards. They obeyed, unlocked it and slid the door open._

"_I'll leave you to get reacquainted," said Michael._

_Taking Megan by the hand, Teyla walked into the large room and stared in disbelief at the people inside. Michael closed the door and locked it._

"_Teyla?" said an awed voice._

_Teyla looked at a tall, bald man. "Halling?"_

_The man smiled and held out his hands. Teyla took them and they touched foreheads. Megan stayed back a little, feeling awkward like she'd just walked in on a funeral wearing a flashy party dress._

"_Megan," Teyla said, looking up and holding out her hand, "this is Halling, your mothers' friend. Halling, this is Megan Parks, Doctor Emily's daughter."_

_Halling smiled. "Hello, young one." He bowed his head and Megan hesitantly touched his forehead with hers._

"_I did not think I would ever see you again," Teyla said._

"_Nor did we," admitted Halling, looking up. "I just wish it were under happier circumstances."_

"_Where are the rest of our people?" asked Teyla._

"_They were taken," replied Halling, "to be experimented upon. Kanan was one of the first."_

"_I am so sorry," said Teyla. "I should have been at the village the day you were captured."_

"_There was nothing you could have done," objected Halling. "Fifty men with stunners infiltrated our village under the cover of night. We were taken completely by surprise."_

"_You can't abandon hope," said Megan. "The people of Atlantis know of our disappearance and they are looking for us. It won't be long until they come to our rescue. And you can bet anything Ma's gonna kick some major butt."_

"_That is a very pleasant thought," said Halling, his brown eyes twinkling._

* * *

"What have you got for me, doctor?" asked Samantha as she walked into the medical lab.

Emily looked up from a picture of her and Megan. "I think I've solved the mystery. Do you know what a telomere is, Colonel?"

"It's part of a human chromosome," replied Samantha.

"That's right," Emily confirmed. "Each time a cell divides, the chromosome is torn apart and rebuilt and in the process a small part of the telomere gets used up; as a result telomeres become shorter over time. The more we age, the shorter they get. This is Doctor Becketts'; according to this scan, his telomeres are thirty percent shorter than they should be for a man of his age. The only explanation is that the original DNA came from an adult cell. You can forget parallel universes; he's a clone."

"I knew you'd want to see the results for yourself," Emily said quietly.

"Are you certain it's from my sample?" Carson asked.

"I ran the tests myself," replied Emily. "There's no mistake. I'm sorry, Carson."

"It doesn't matter," said Rodney, his face set.

"That's easy for you to say," retorted Carson, "but you're not the one who just found out that he's made the test tube."

"As far as I'm concerned one of the best friends I've ever had just came back from the dead. I'm not gonna let it cripple over a couple of telomeres."

"Thank you kindly for that, but it still doesn't change the fact that I'm not the real Carson Beckett."

"No," agreed Rodney, "because the real Carson Beckett wouldn't be standing here feeling sorry for himself and not figure out a way to help us."

"I'm willing to do whatever I can, Rodney," said Carson, "but I'm not so certain that my help will be wanted."

"Why wouldn't it be?" asked Emily.

Carson glanced at his guard and Emily got the point.

* * *

"We're talking about a man who was- for all intense and purposes- manufactured by one of our most dangerous enemies," said Samantha. "Fundamentally, he's not that different from those Hybrids, and I doubt very much that we'd be arguing to trust them."

"Yeah, but there's no denying the fact that he's no ordinary clone," said Emily. "I mean, somehow, Michael has managed to reproduce his memories, thought processes and his personality. Rodney and I just spent some time with him and that man is Carson."

"That doesn't necessarily mean that it's safe to act on any information that he might give us," Samantha argued. "Look, he may genualy believe that he's helping us and still be playing right into Michael's hand."

"She has point," said John. "What exactly is he offering?"

"He knows the layout of at least four facilities that Michael has on different planets," said Rodney. "Apparently, he likes to move a lot. Stay a step ahead of the Wraith."

"What about Gate addresses?" asked Samantha.

"They blindfolded him every time they moved around so that he couldn't see the DHD, although he did catch a glimpse of an address dialed by one of Michaels' mercenaries."

"It's a start" Emily said.

* * *

Emily walked into the infirmary with Samantha, John, Ronon and Rodney, the men recently arriving from a planet with Carson. While trying to keep one of Michaels' operatives alive, Carson had collapsed.

"Jen, what have you got?"

"After he collapsed I did a scan and found evidence of necrosis in several of his internal organs," said Jennifer.

"No way," Emily sighed. She looked at the scan. "His cells aren't sustaining his tissue functions."

"Do you know why?" asked Samantha.

"It's probably a complication due to the fact that he's a clone," Emily said. "Of course, right now…I can only speculate."

"I've given him a course of treatment to try and simulate cell growth," said Jennifer. "But, it's a bit late trying to find a cure for old age."

"What are you saying?" asked John in a quiet voice.

"He's dying," Jennifer answered.

"No wonder I've felt like a dogs breakfast since I got here," muttered Carson.

"I'm sorry, Carson," Emily sighed. "I wish there was something we could do."

"Why is this happening now?" asked Rodney. "You've survived for almost two years with Michael. Shouldn't you have felt some sort of effects from your condition before now?"

"That's a good point," said Emily.

Carson's eyes widened. "The weekly injections that he gave me. He said it was a sedative to keep me from escaping. It must have been some kind of drug to keep my cells from deteriorating."

"You obviously don't have any of it with you," Emily sighed.

Carson shook his head. "Michael administered it himself, one dose at a time."

"We scanned you when you got here," Emily muttered. "I might be able to isolate it and create more."

* * *

_Megan sighed and fidgeted against the wall._

"_Megan?" said Halling. "Are you well?"_

_The little girl sighed again. "This just reminds me of when my dad kidnapped me. Ma came with Colonel Sheppard, Ronon and Todd. They should've been here by now."_

_Halling wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Everything will be fine."_

_Megan glanced at the door. "If we don't get help soon, Michael will force on us the same thing that he forced on Kanan and the others."_

"_It will not come to that," Halling said. "Now that I know that the people of Atlantis are looking for us, I grow more reassured every hour that we will be rescued. Besides, your mother can be quiet the resourceful woman."_

_Megan grinned. "Yeah. She probably told Todd, as well."_

"_Who is this Todd you speak of?"_

_Megan cleared her throat. "Ma's on-and-off boyfriend. He's kind of a…Wraith."_

* * *

_Megan whipped around as the door slid opened. For one wild second she thought that Emily had come at last. It was really Michael's henchmen._

"_Don't insight them," Halling warned quietly._

_The hybrids looked around. "Her," one of them said, pointing at Teyla._

"_No," Megan said, "you will take me instead."_

_One of the hybrids slapped her across the face so hard; Megan was flung to the ground painfully._

"_Megan!" Teyla cried, kneeling beside her. The hybrids quickly took the pregnant woman away._

"_Wait!" Megan croaked. She got up and almost fell over again if Halling had not caught her. "Teyla! Teyla!"_

* * *

Emily jerked awake when Carson touched her shoulder. "Ah, sorry."

"When was the last time you slept?" he asked.

"Before Megan was taken," Emily replied, stretching.

Carson sighed. "She sounds like a wonderful girl. I wish I could meet her."

"Well," said Emily, "once we rescue her, you will."

"That wasn't what I meant," Carson said.

Emily grasped his shoulders. "Carson, we're gonna get you thru this. I'm not entirely sure how, but I swear to you, these won't be your last days."

Carson smiled and hugged her. "Atlantis has been in good hands, hasn't it?"

Emily grinned. "It's been a challenge, but I've managed."

They stayed in that position until Jennifer came in. "Sorry, but Naval's waking up."

* * *

Emily watched with growing hostility as Naval regained consciousness. This man was working for the man who kidnapped her daughter and friend.

Naval opened his eyes and stared at Jennifer. "I see you've opted once again to save my life."

"It wasn't an easy decision, believe me," growled Jennifer.

"The only reason she did is because we need information," said John.

"About Michael," said Naval. "Too bad you wasted your effort. You should've just let me die."

"Why's that?" Emily asked, cracking her knuckles behind her back.

"Because once Michael finds out I was captured, I'm as good as dead anyway," Naval growled.

Emily leaned in closer to him and hissed in his ear, "If you don't tell us what we want to know, Michael will be the least of your worries, Naval."

Naval chuckled. "I doubt very much that a doctor could hurt me."

"Do you really want to take that chance?" Emily asked. Everyone saw the darkness in her eyes. She wasn't bluffing on this point.

Naval's eyes betrayed his apprehension. "If I did help you, there's no place in this galaxy where Michael can't find me."

"Who said anything about this galaxy?" John asked.

"How did it go?" Samantha asked.

"Emily coerced him into telling us what we wanted to know," said John.

"He didn't need very much temptation," Emily said. "Naval gave up the address; we know where they are."

Emily, John, Ronon, Rodney and Carson entered Michael's compound. Emily kept close to Carson as they walked along the corridors.

"I'm reading a bunch of lifesigns ahead," said Rodney.

"Maybe it's the Athosians," said Ronon.

"Or those Frankensteins," Emily added.

* * *

_Halling was tending to Megan's bruised jaw when they all heard the gun fire._

"_That's P90 fire," Megan muttered. She jumped to her feet and ran to the door. "Hey! Hello! Atlantis!"_

"_Hello!" Halling joined in. "I told you they would come."_

_Megan beamed at him. "Hey! Rodney! Ma!"_

* * *

Emily shot the last two hybrids.

"Okay," John growled, "I'm getting really tired of being shot at by our own weapons."

"I'm getting tired of being shot at period," said Emily.

"Hey, do you guys hear that?" asked Ronon.

"You must help us!"

"That's Halling," said Emily.

"Hey! John! Rodney!"

"Megan!" Emily called.

* * *

"_Megan where are you?"_

_Megan almost fainted with happiness. "Ma! Over here!"_

"_Halling?"_

"_Colonel, thru here!" Halling shouted._

_The door slid open and Emily came bursting in. "Megan!"_

"_Ma!" Megan cried, racing into her arms. "Oh, Ma, I missed you!"_

"_It's okay, darling," Emily soothed. "I'm here, I'm here."_

"_It is very good to see you," Halling said._

"_Likewise, my friend," replied John. "Where's Teyla?"_

"_Michael has taken her," Halling said. "You must go after her."_

"_Right," John growled. "Emily, take Megan and the Athosians back to the Stargate."_

"_Find her," Emily said. "Alright, come this way!"_

_They raced out of the compound and to the Stargate._

"_Dialing Atlantis," Emily muttered._

"_Do you hear that?" asked Megan._

_They all froze and heard it too._

"_That's the Hive!" Megan shouted._

_The Stargate opened up. "Atlantis, this is Dr Parks! I have the Athosians and Megan! We're coming thru!" Emily started herding the Athosians thru the Gate._

"_Meggie," Emily said, "go thru with Halling."_

"_I'm not leaving you," Megan protested._

"_Megan Teresa," Emily snarled. "Go thru that Gate now!"_

_Megan bit her lip then ran thru the Stargate with Halling._

* * *

"We searched the place top to bottom," said John as he and Emily walked around Atlantis. "No sign of her."

"Michael probably has her," Emily said. "We have prisoners that we can interrogate."

John nodded. "How's Beckett?"

Emily sighed. "Not good. His body's shutting down. I can't do a whole lot for him now. Radik is prepping a stasis pod."

* * *

Emily walked with Carson into the Stasis Room where everyone else was waiting. "We're gonna find a cure," she reassured him. "I won't give up on you."

Carson smiled. "Thanks a bunch, Em. I'm glad Atlantis has you here." He walked over to the rest of the team.

"Don't worry doc," John said to him. "We'll have you out of there in no time."

"Colonel," Carson said, "you bring her home now, understand?"

John nodded and stepped back.

"See ya, big man," Carson said to Ronon, who leaned down and hugged him.

Carson knelt down in front of Megan. "I'm glad Rodney has someone to match his wits with."

Megan smiled slightly. "I'll be helping Ma with the cure. We'll see you in a matter of weeks."

Carson smiled at her. "Thank you kindly, love. Take care of them, won't you?"

Megan nodded and kissed his cheek lightly and then Carson stepped into the stasis pod.

"Okay," said Rodney, "you won't feel a thing. Your lifesigns will be monitored on this machine here 24/7."

"Thank you, Rodney," said Carson. "I want you all to know that seeing you again these last few days…it was all worth it. No matter what happens, I'll be fine."

"That's right," said Rodney optimistically. "You will be fine. This isn't goodbye so much as see you later. That's what we agreed."

"Did we?" murmured Carson.

"Yes," Emily put in. "Yes, we did."

Carson smiled. "Alright then, see you all later."

Rodney tapped the stasis consul and the pod activated.


	7. The Queen

THE QUEEN

**Todd watched as the Spacegate activated and a Jumper came out of it.**

"**I'm reading seven life signs on board," said his second-in-command. "Why would they bring so many?"**

**Todd smirked. "They don't trust us. It's probably for the best."**

"**How so?"**

"**We don't want to do business with fools, now do we? Send them the docking instructions."**

* * *

Emily brushed Megans' auburn hair and braided it. "I can't believe you talked me into bringing you."

Megan smiled. "I want to see Todd. It hasn't been the same since he left. I know you miss him."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Let's not jump to conclusions, dear."

"Here they are," said John from the Jumpers' cockpit.

Megan jumped from her mother's lap and looked out the window. "Whoa!"

"How big is that?" Jennifer asked with a tremble to her voice.

"You've never seen a Hive up close?" John asked.

Jennifer swallowed. "I've never seen one period."

"Yeah, you never forget your first one," said Rodney. "Hey, we're receiving a transmission."

John put it up. "It looks like docking instructions."

"What, no 'hello', 'welcome weary travelers'?" Emily said sarcastically.

"Guess not," said Ronon.

"So much for the red carpet," said John. He steered us into the Hive and we landed in the Dart Bay.

"So what happens now?" asked Megan.

"Well," said Rodney, "if past experience is anything to go by, this is where we get double-crossed and thrown in the brig."

"That will not be the case, Rodney," said Teyla.

"Yeah, whatever," mumbled Rodney.

There was a banging on the Jumper door.

"Right on cue," said Emily, her stomach twisting in worry. She pushed Megan back to the cockpit with Jennifer and Rodney.

John opened the door and four Wraith pointed their weapons at them.

"Oh crap," Emily muttered.

"This looks a little familiar," said John.

"Lower your weapons," said a familiar voice. Todd stepped in between his soldiers and the Jumper. "They're our guests."

* * *

**Todd smiled at the humans. "Welcome to my ship."**

"**I told you he wouldn't hurt us," said a small voice. Megan Parks, Emily's daughter, pushed her way forward and smiled at Todd. "Hi!"**

**Todd smiled and picked the girl up into his arms. "You've grown, little one." He saw Emily's eyes tighten with worry.**

**Todd led the humans to the Conference Room, holding Megan's hand. "How have you been keeping, Megan?"**

"**I'm good," said the young girl. "I missed you like crazy, so did Ma, but she won't admit it."**

"**There was nothing to miss," Emily muttered primly.**

"**See?" giggled Megan.**

"**I do," said Todd, glancing back at the good doctor, who blushed.**

**They entered the Conference Room. "This is my second-in-command. I've asked him to be a part of these discussions. Please, sit."**

**Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "Fruit bowl, huh? Nice touch."**

"**We picked it up on our travels," said Todd. "I thought it would make our discussions more comfortable."**

**McKay and Megan each took a fruit.**

"**I hope they prove as delicious as the farmers who grew them."**

**McKay set his fruit back down, but Megan took a bite. "Yummy!"**

**Todd noticed Emily fighting a smile. She'd noticed his little joke.**

"**Let's get this over with," said Sheppard.**

**Todd nodded. "I understand you have a proposal; a breakthrough of some kind?"**

"**This is Dr Jennifer Keller," said Emily. "She's my assistant and can explain everything to you." Emily nodded at Keller with a small, reassuring smile.**

**Keller cleared her throat. "Well, as you may already know, we recently stumbled across a lab belonging to Michael; the Wraith that-"**

"**I know who he is," Todd interrupted.**

**Keller blushed. "Oh, of course you do."**

"**Word of your success over him has spread rapidly among my kind. We are very grateful." This last part was added a bit grudgingly.**

"**Trust me," said Sheppard. "We didn't do it for you."**

"**Anyway," said Keller, "we uncovered a database from his lab that allowed us to continue his research-"**

"**For what purpose," Todd demanded.**

"**We've come up with a gene therapy," continued Keller, "that…alters Wraith DNA in a small yet significant way."**

"**In a nutshell," said Emily, "we can make it so that you and any Wraith we treat will never have to feed on humans again."**

**Todd shared a look with his second-in-command, who growled, "This is absurd."**

"**Well," back-tracked Emily, "it's not that big a change as you might think. Your bodies already contain the organs capable to digest food."**

"**Here," said Sheppard, tossing Todd a pear. "Try this."**

**Todd caught the fruit and examined it. "If I were to consume this, it would give me a moment's pleasure, but it will not sustain me."**

"**But that can change," said Keller, "at least in theory."**

"**Why would we want this?" asked the second Wraith. "Of what benefit is it?"**

"**Well, think about it," piped up Megan, "if you guys put yourselves on regular food, you could give up all those tiresome Cullings and give you a significant advantage over other Hives."**

"**Not to mention," said Sheppard, "Em and I can stop waiting for a chance to kill you. In theory."**

"**Our current process gives us strength, our ability to heal and our longevity," argued Todd.**

"**Well," said Keller, "we're not entirely sure how this change would affect your…gifts. They may continue, although possibly in a diminished form."**

"**Possibly," repeated Todd, his guard going up.**

"**It's difficult to tell from lab tests," said Emily. "We can't be sure until we administer it to live subjects."**

**Todd held Emily's gaze for a very long time, his mind forming a plan quickly.**

"**Let's not forget that Michael spread the modified Hoffman drug to dozens of worlds, possibly thousands, I mean, no one knows for sure, which means every time you feed, you're taking a risk," McKay put in.**

"**Bottom line is; there's not enough food to go around. That's why you Wraith are at each others throats," said Sheppard. "So, here's your chance."**

* * *

Emily unconsciously lifted a grape to her mouth and ate it.

"This is wrong," said Ronon, looking down the hall as they sat waiting for Todd. "We shouldn't be here."

"I don't know," said Rodney, "from where I was sitting, things seemed to go pretty well."

"Yeah," agreed Sheppard. "I was just expecting a little more resistance."

"Well, he hasn't said 'yes' yet," pointed out Jennifer.

"Yes," agreed Emily, "but something makes me think he wants to."

"Why not?" asked Megan. "It's a reasonable offer."

"Why are we thinking of things to fix them, when we should be thinking of ways to kill them?" asked Ronon.

"We've been doing that for four years," Rodney pointed out, "they're still here."

"We're not doing this for them," Teyla said.

"Something's going on here that somebody's not telling us," Emily said.

"How can you know that?" asked Rodney.

Emily glanced at her friends. "I know Todd."

There were footsteps outside and Todd entered. "Am I disturbing you?"

"Come in," John invited.

Todd walked in the room and rested his hands on the back of Megan's chair. "I have…considered your offer. I believe your idea has merit if you can make the treatment work. Of course converting a single Hive would be pointless and would be of little use to humans in this galaxy and would make us priors amongst our own kind."

"Wait a minute," growled Emily, standing up and moving around the table to stand next to Teyla, "I thought you worked with a whole group of Hives."

"I do," Todd consented, "but I may have…exaggerated my position within the Alliance."

"You don't have a clout," Emily hissed.

"Then he's no good to us," said Ronon happily, tapping his gun.

"There's only one you need to convince," said Todd calmly. "Among all the Queens in the Alliance, one sits above the rest. We call her the Primary."

"The uber-Queen?" Emily said in disbelief.

"Convince her and the rest will fall into line."

"Then convince her," demanded John.

"She will only speak with another Queen," Todd said thru tight lips.

"And your Queen was killed above the skies of Atlantis last year," Teyla finished.

"Yes," said Todd, "but the Primary does not know this."

"You bluffed your way into the Alliance," said Emily, her eyes widening.

"They would not have accepted me otherwise," Todd said indifferently. "Up until now I've been able to keep up this subterfuge, but a face to face meeting will prove difficult. In fact, there are only two people who can help me." He stared at Teyla and Emily.

Emily blinked. "Me? Teyla I get, but me?"

"You have Wraith DNA," Todd said simply. "To be honest, I'd much rather use you, you have a…queenly presence."

Emily swallowed. "Since when do I have Wraith DNA?"

"Um, we had to inject you with some when you were bitten by that bug," Jennifer said. "Sorry, it was a spur of the moment decision."

"Wait," Megan said, "that would explain your nightmares, Ma."

Emily rubbed her temples. "Telekinetic connections. Lovely."

* * *

"Are you ready for this?" Jennifer asked Emily back on Atlantis.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Emily answered, hugging Megan close. "Be a good girl, yes?"

Megan nodded. "Show them who's Queen."

"How's my patient?" It was Todd.

"What is he doing here?" Emily growled, suddenly feeling very self-conscious in the paper gown she was wearing.

"Don't worry," said Jennifer, "he's just here as a technical advisor. I'll be the one performing the surgery."

Emily grunted. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

Emily woke up with her head feeling very fuzzy. "Jen?"

"I'm right here, Emily."

Emily shook her head to relieve the grogginess. "How'd it go?" She paused. "Christ, is that my voice?"

Jennifer grinned. "I won't lie, you certainly look the part."

Emily looked at her hands. "Ugh, this is so wrong!"

"Do you want to see the team?"

Emily nodded, sitting up and examining her legs. It was so bizarre to see her usually tanned skin so pale and greenish.

"Em?"

She looked up and smiled at the team. "How do I look?"

Megan pushed past Teyla and Rodney. "Ma, you look so cool! Except the eyes, the eyes are creepy."

"But just the eyes," assured John.

Emily sighed. "The first time I saw a Queen, I was mildly interested on what they did. Now I'm about to know."

* * *

"**Assume your throne," said Todd.**

**Emily walked hesitantly over to the chair and sat down on it. She wriggled slightly.**

"**Are you trying to get us both killed?"**

**Emily blinked. '"I don't understand."**

"**At the first sign of deception, the Primary will not hesitate to slit our throats!" Todd shouted.**

"**You said she will sense my DNA," Emily protested.**

"**It is not your DNA that concerns me," Todd hissed. "You _project_ apprehension!"**

"**Well, given the circumstances-"**

"**It may be understandable, but it is not acceptable!"**

**Emily stood up and started to pace. "Just give me a moment! I can make this work." She walked around for a time then sighed. "I was a Prom Queen in high school. I can do this."**

**Todd blinked and put a hand on her shoulder. "I understand your fears. I know it is a great deal I'm asking of you, but this can benefit both our species."**

**Emily gave a stiff nod and sat down on the throne. "Then let's start these lessons."**

* * *

**Todd walked into the Conference Room where Sheppard, McKay, Ronon and Megan were waiting.**

"**Where's Emily?" demanded Ronon.**

"**She's resting," said Todd. "You'll be pleased to know that we've received word from the Primary's Hive. We are to meet them at their current location."**

"**So what's the plan?" asked McKay.**

"**Once we're there, we go aboard the Hive and Emily will put forward my proposal."**

"**Oh, your proposal?"**

"**The less the Primary knows of my dealings with you people from Atlantis, the better."**

"**If she doesn't know it's coming from us, what's the chance she's gonna buy it?" asked Sheppard.**

"**Our Alliance have been dealt recently with a number of setbacks."**

"**You're getting your asses kicked," Ronon said gleefully.**

"**Indeed," Todd muttered, "although the Primary will never admit it out loud. But the one thing the Primary has other than her pride, is her instinct for survival."**

* * *

Emily took deep, calming breaths as the Primary's Hive came into view. This was such a bad idea!

"Don't be nervous," soothed Todd in her ear.

Emily glared at him. "I'm not."

Todd studied her for a moment then nodded to his second-in-command. The view screen lit up and Emily saw the Primary for the first time.

"So," the Queen said, "at long last we meet."

"Indeed," Emily said evenly.

"Many among my crew began to think you didn't exist."

Emily saw Todd glance at her from the corner of her eye. "You must point them out to me, so I can remove all doubt from their minds."

The Primary chuckled. "That is no longer necessary. Make your way to my ship and do not keep me waiting again." The transmission ended.

Emily swallowed. "That wasn't so bad."

"She likes you," Todd assured her.

"You think so?"

"It was a warmer reception as we could expect."

Emily shivered. "If that was warm, I'm Jack Frost."

* * *

Emily suppressed the urge to raise an eyebrow at the commander of the other Hive. He was short, thick and completely bald.

"Welcome to my ship," he said, bowing to her.

Emily glanced around. "Where is your Queen?"

"You will meet her in time," the commander assured. He turned to one of the guards. "Tell the bridge they're on board. We're ready to go to hyperspace."

Emily shot Todd a look and the Wraith said, "This was not part of the arrangement."

"You did not expect us to conduct this within weapons range of your Hive?"

Todd stiffened. "We are part of the same Alliance…unless you do not trust us."

Emily's jaw tightened. This was very bad.

"I make it a practice to not trust anyone I don't know," the commander replied. "It's how the Queen wishes it. Follow me."

Emily looked at Todd and saw the same apprehension in his eyes that was surely in hers. But they had no choice.

* * *

**The other commander led Todd and Emily into the Queens' chamber, but she wasn't there. "The Queen will be with you shortly." He bowed to Emily and left.**

**Once he was gone, Emily whispered, "What have you done?"**

"**I swear to you I did not expect this to happen," Todd said. This was corrupting everything he'd planned before. "We're not in any danger. If the Queen already suspected us, we'd be dead already."**

**Emily scowled. "And if she begins to suspect? We are trapped on this ship!"**

"**Everything will be fine," promised Todd, "provided you play your part. We must proceed as planned."**

**A pair of doors slid open and the Primary stepped into their midst. "What is he doing here?"**

**Todd bowed and backed away, leaving Emily in the line of action. "I thought his presence would be useful as he has been the one you've been dealing with all this time."**

"**I do not like surprises," snarled the Queen.**

**Emily held her ground. "Nor do I, yet it was you who took your ship into hyperspace the moment we stepped aboard."**

**Todd had to admit, Emily was a very good Queen. It only added to his attraction to her.**

"**If you were in my place," the Primary hissed, "you would understand my need for such precautions."**

**Emily considered this then dipped her head respectfully. "Very well."**

**The Primary sighed. "Come, let us sit."**

**Todd narrowed his eyes. The Primary was just humoring them. He slipped out a small knife he kept up his sleeve at all times and shoved Emily out of the way and slashed the Primary's throat.**

"**What are you doing?" shrieked Emily. "What is the meaning of this?"**

**Todd forced the blade into her hand and kissed her cheek. "Forgive me, but this is the way it must be. You must say that you killed her."**

"**Are you insane?" hissed Emily.**

"**This is the way it is done with my kind," Todd explained. "This is how power changes hands."**

"**But I don't want-"**

"**Listen to me!" barked Todd, taking her by the shoulders. "The crew will not be happy, but nor will they wish to be without a Queen. You caught her off guard and many will perceive that she was growing weak. All you need to do is show them that you are a capable replacement and they will do your will."**

"**And if I can't?" whispered Emily.**

**Todd let her go. "Then we're both dead."**

"**What is this?"**

**The commander had shown up with a group of guards. He crossed over to the dead Queen. "You killed her!"**

"**I have taken what is rightfully mine," Emily said in a cold voice. "You are the better for it."**

**The commander growled in response and lifted his weapon. "You will die for this!"**

"**How dare you raise a weapon against your Queen?" Emily snarled.**

"**This was my Queen!"**

"**She was growing weak," Todd interjected, stepping between the commander and Emily. "If you could not see that, you're a fool."**

**He was suddenly shoved to his knees and Emily was holding his own blade to his throat. "Did I ask for you to speak for me?"**

**Todd swallowed. "No, my Queen."**

"**Then wag your tongue like that again and I'll remove it. Is that understood?"**

"**Yes, my Queen."**

**Emily pushed him away and tossed the knife. "Now drop us out of hyperspace and run a full diagnostic," she demanded of the commander. "I wish to know the status of my new flagship."**

"**Yes…my Queen," the commander said thru tight lips.**

* * *

Emily was pacing around her new throne when Todd came in. "I've surveyed the crew," he said happily. "You'll be pleased to know they were entirely fooled."

"What were you thinking?" Emily exploded. "You put both our lives at a terrible risk!"

"I know," said Todd. "If you'll allow me to explain-"

"How could you do this?" Emily hissed.

"It was necessary; the former Queen was never going to accept your proposal."

"And so you just killed her," Emily growled, "and forced me to take the blame."

"If I had taken the blame," Todd growled back, "I would have surely been killed and you taken hostage. That was not the desired outcome."

Emily sighed in disgust and sat in her throne.

"You must understand that our culture is different from yours," Todd soothed. "We govern ourselves by different rules. I would have expected you to understand; you are trained to put aside differences."

Emily bared her teeth. "I've been trained to save lives, not destroy them! You should have informed me of your decision to make me Queen of this Hive."

"Perhaps," relented Todd, "but I doubt you would have gone thru with it had I told you."

"You're right," Emily said. "It was a foolish and reckless plan."

"Most Wraith seek to be ruled; they fear being without a Queen. I knew that if you presented yourself as a viable substitute, most of them would just fall in line."

"Most of them?" repeated Emily with trepidation.

Todd held back a growl. "The point is; we have achieved what we set out to do. You are now leader of the Alliance and we can a hinder to Dr Kellers' plan."

"Then there is no need for us to continue this charade," Emily pointed out. "Take me back to your ship!"

"Soon," Todd said. "You must remain here for things to settle. Once they do, you may take your leave and no one of this crew may be the wiser."

Emily grumbled to herself in Gaelic for a moment then sighed, "What do I need to do?"

* * *

**Todd was still advising Emily when the Wraith commander showed up. "Forgive the intrusion, my Queen, but we've received an urgent report."**

"**Do you intend to make her read it?" Todd said.**

**The commander blinked once. "An enemy Hive is in orbit above one of our Feeding Grounds not far from here."**

"**Have you tried to contact them?" Emily asked.**

"**They are not responding."**

**Emily considered this. "Signal the closet Hive to investigate."**

"**We are the closest Hive."**

"**We must remain here," Emily said firmly.**

**Todd bowed slightly, "My Queen, perhaps we should discuss this in privet?"**

**Emily suppressed a sigh with difficulty. "Leave us," she ordered the commander, who bowed, glanced at them and left.**

"**We must respond to this," Todd insisted. "To do otherwise will suggest weakness, the crew will not understand."**

"**Then let them be confused," hissed Emily.**

**Todd smiled. "Spoken like a true Queen, but it will breed suspicion. For the moment, they are now prepared to serve you, but if you rebuke that trust, they will quickly fall away from you."**

"**What about your ship?" pressed Emily, "it is probably already on its' way."**

**Todd saw thru her words. "You will be reunited with Megan soon enough," he said quietly, placing a hand over hers. "They will pick up on our new location as soon as they arrive."**

**Emily sighed. "Inform the bridge to set a course."**

**Todd bowed and left.**

* * *

**Todd walked with Emily to the bridge. "We've reached the Feeding Ground. They will attempt to hail us and negotiate a concession, but you must stand firm. They may even threaten to attack, but they will not want to fight any more than we do."**

**Emily didn't reply, but Todd didn't press her. He believed in her and her abilities, but he didn't want to force her into hysteria.**

**They entered the bridge and the commander greeted them, "The other Hive is trying to contact us."**

"**Ignore them," Emily ordered. "Charge weapons."**

**Todd felt his spin stiffen. Oh, dear…**

"**You wish to attack unprovoked," the commander questioned.**

"**We were provoked," Emily argued. "We were approached upon our territory. I want them destroyed!"**

**The Hive began firing on the enemy.**

**Todd bent down slightly and whispered in Emily's ear, "What are you doing?"**

"**What does it look like?"**

"**I told you to talk to them."**

"**You also told me to show no weakness."**

"**They're returning fire," the commander reported. "We're taking hull damage."**

"**Deploy the Darts," Emily snapped.**

"**Under these conditions they will suffer heavy losses."**

"**I'm fully aware of the costs," Emily growled. "We must take a firm stance to intrusions such as this."**

**The realization dawned on Todd. "You're doing this on purpose. To kill Wraith."**

"**Half of the first wave has been destroyed," the commander reported.**

"**But the survivors are now to close to be effected by the ships' weapons," Emily pointed out. "They can attack at will."**

"**Until the enemy launches their own Darts," the commander said.**

**Emily glanced at him. "That will take time. With any luck, we've caught them off-guard."**

**Todd stared at her. This wasn't the good doctor he'd come to know, the caged animal or the woman he secretly loved; this was a woman seeking blood…Wraith blood.**

"**My Queen," the commander implored, "our Darts are outnumbered two to one. If we do not recall them now, they will be wiped out."**

"**And their sacrifices will be remembered when this Alliance rules the galaxy," Emily retorted.**

**The Hive suddenly shook.**

"**What was that?" Todd asked.**

"**The primary weapons array has been lost."**

**Emily ground her teeth. "Keep firing all of the batteries!"**

**The enemy Hive suddenly exploded.**

"**That's impossible!" the commander growled.**

"**Well done, my Queen," Todd said approvingly, bowing to Emily.**

**She turned and glared at the commander. "Perhaps you will not be so quick as to question my tactics?" She turned on her heal and stalked away.**

**Todd gave the commander a small, condescending smile and followed her.**

* * *

Emily walked to the cell. "Leave us," she ordered the guards, who obeyed. She turned to the team. "John, Megan, Ronon, Rodney, it is good to see you."

"What's going on?" John asked.

Emily shook her head. "I will explain later, but you must not attempt to escape, you're in no danger. I'm now Queen of this Hive."

"Whoa, what?" said Megan.

Emily shook her head. "It is a long story."

"We have a Jumper here," said John, "we can leave right now."

"No," Emily said, "I must solidify my position here first. It is the only way to make sure the Alliance will accept the treatment, otherwise this will all have been for nothing."

John nodded. "Alright, we'll let it play out for now."

Emily nodded and left.

* * *

Emily walked into her room and sighed. What a day. She wondered idly if Hives' had showers on board. Did Wraith even bathe?

"My Queen," said a mocking voice.

Emily whirled around to see the commander standing behind her. "What are you doing here? Who authorized you to wait in my quarters?"

"I let myself in," the commander smiled. "I wanted to talk to you in privet."

"I do not wish to speak right now," said Emily, thinking fast, "come back later."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," the commander replied.

"I am your Queen…" Emily began.

"You are not my Queen," the commander growled.

"How dare you speak to me like this?" Emily said her stomach twisting fear. This wasn't going well. "Remove yourself from my sight immediately!"

"I saw you talking to the prisoners from Atlantis," the commander snarled.

"And? I may not interrogate prisoners on my own ship?"

"Oh, you may, thou it is odd that you refer to them as prisoners. I overheard what you were saying to them. You knew them and they knew you. And I asked myself, how is such a thing possible?"

Emily made for the exit, but the commander shoved her back. "I suspected you from the moment you stepped aboard my ship! And against my better judgment, I allowed you to remain on board while you committed treachery after treachery!" He drew an evil sword from his belt. "It was my duty to defend this ship and I failed."

He swung at Emily, who ducked and stabbed him with her small knife. The commander tossed her away and she hit the throne with a dull 'thunk' that sent stars in front of her vision. The commander grabbed her wrist and held the sword to her throat. "Your reign is over, my Queen!"

He was hit from behind twice by a stun pistol. Todd shoved him away from Emily and snapped his neck.

Emily groaned and felt her head. Todd knelt next to her. "Are you alright?"

Emily nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

Todd took her in his arms and kissed her. "He'll not be bothering you any longer. My Hive arrived moments ago. I've arranged for Megan, Sheppard, McKay and Ronon to be taken aboard."

Emily nodded and held him. "Thank you."

It was there, in Todd's arms, that she felt safe.

* * *

"…**And thus I will be taking my leave of you and returning to my former Hive," Emily finished, "I'm leaving behind my trusted commander. Let me be clear; you'll still fall under my protection, but in my absence, you will heed his every order as if it were my own. Is that understood?"**

"**Yes, my Queen," the new commander said.**

**Emily nodded and turned to Todd. "Escort me to my transport."**

**Todd bowed and followed her out of the Throne Room. "Well done," he said, taking her hand. "I think you've managed to allay any suspicions."**

"**Just remember why we did this," Emily said, "to distribute Jennifer's treatment to as many Wraith as possible."**

"**Of course," said Todd, "although I think it might be prudent to let things settle for a time, first."**

**Emily stopped. "How much time?"**

**Todd faced her. "Not long."**

**Emily took a step forward and Todd was suddenly trapped between her and the wall. "You're not planning on going back on our agreement, are you?"**

"**No, no, no," Todd said quickly. "I'm just saying that to propose such a radical agenda so soon after the change in leadership…well, it may invite unwelcome questions."**

**Emily narrowed her eyes. "Fine, but bear in mind that, as far as this crew is concerned, I will not hesitate to make another appearance and have you removed."**

**Todd shrugged. "Fair enough."**

**Emily pressed herself against him. "Permanently," she purred in his ear. She pulled away and walked to the hangar.**

**Todd swallowed and curled his fingers. Emily was a very interesting woman.**


	8. First Contact

FIRST CONTACT

Emily walked down to the Gate Room with John and Rodney, the latter complaining- as always- about the visitor they were going to receive.

"I'm just saying," Rodney said, "I got stuff on the go, you know, important, vital projects for the benefit of the human race."

"There are other people doing equally important work," Emily said, "as hard as that is for you to believe."

"Exciting day," Woolsey said as they entered the Gate Room.

"Absolutely," John agreed. Rodney just scoffed quietly.

"He's ready to beam down, sir," Chuck said from the Control Room.

The familiar hum from the transporter was the only warning before the guest was on Atlantis.

"Dr. Jackson," said Woolsey. "Welcome to Atlantis."

"Thank you, Mr. Woolsey," said Daniel Jackson, "it's great to be here. Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Parks. Hi Rodney."

* * *

Emily stretched as she paused in her packing. "Oh, I'm ready for my next vacation."

"Why can't I come?" Megan pouted. "I wanna see Todd."

Emily smiled and scooped her daughter in her arms. "Sweetheart, this is a very important mission mommy has to go on. I need you here, where John and Teyla can keep an eye on you."

"But Todd…"

"Your life doesn't revolve around him," Emily sighed. "We need to accept that Todd is on…a slightly different side than ours. Besides, if you come with me, you won't be able to help Rodney and Daniel find this secret lab."

Megan brightened. "If I do, does that mean I'll be like Sherlock Holmes?"

"You'll be like Ms. Marble," Emily said and kissed Megan's cheek. "I love you, princess."

"I love you, too, mommy," Megan whispered in her ear.

There was a knock on the door.

"It's time to go," said John.

Emily sighed, picked up her suitcase and followed him to the Gate Room. "Watch over Megan, please?"

John nodded. "Don't worry; I'll keep her from annoying anybody. Well, maybe except Rodney."

Emily laughed. "No, she can help Rodney and Daniel find Janis' lab, but if they uncover anything remotely dangerous, I want her well away from it."

"Yes, General," John said with a solemn face. Emily elbowed him in the side.

"Hello," said Woolsey, joining them. "Colonel, as soon as the Daedalus unloads its supplies we'll be flying off to meet with Todd and one of his Hives."

"You really think he's just going to show up and let you use Dr. Keller's treatment on a few of his guys?" John said.

"Well, we held up our end of the deal," Woolsey said. "We let him use Emily to take control of an Alliance of Wraith Hives."

"That's what I'm saying," John pressed. "He's got what he wants now. I should go with you because I have a relationship with Todd."

"That is precisely why I don't want you to come," Woolsey said. "This mission is most likely going to be a diplomatic mission and Todd has…well, less baggage with me than he does with you."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't take the lead on this," John began.

"You're second-in-command here," Woolsey argued. "I know some of my predecessors played fast-and-loose with some of the IOA's rules, but in the rare instance that I am authorized to leave the city, you stay put. You're in command until I get back, understood?"

John sighed. "Okay."

Woolsey smiled. "Besides, I've got Emily here accompanying me."

"We'll be back before you know it," said Emily.

"Try and not blow the city up while I'm gone," Woolsey told John.

"No promises," John replied.

* * *

Onboard the Daedalus, Emily and Jennifer walked into the Mess Hall.

"If I have to do one more test," Emily said, "I'm going to scream."

Jennifer handed her a coffee mug. "You've been pushing it hard lately; maybe you should've stayed on Atlantis."

Emily shrugged. "Too late now." She suppressed a yawn as she made her coffee. "I just hope Megan doesn't get into trouble."

Jennifer smiled. "You left her with Rodney and Dr. Jackson, Em."

Emily bit her lip. "Crap, you're right. I think I'll go and check up on her."

* * *

Emily walked back into the medical lab and sat down in front of a screen.

"Hey, Ma!" said Megan as the screen came alive. "How are things on the Daedalus?"

Emily yawned. "Boring; we're still in hyperspace. Are you okay?"

Megan rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, Ma. I'm with Rodney and Jackson. Oh, we found Janis' lab!"

"Did you? What's it like?"

"It's a bit like Rodney's lab, to tell the truth," Megan admitted. "But that's not best part; all this information and data has inscription codes that even the most paranoid NSA agent wouldn't use. Some of this is math ciphers while others are Ancient knowledge puzzles and until we figure them out, we can't find out what Janis is hiding."

Emily smiled. "Sounds like you guys are having fun."

Megan beamed. "I've cracked two puzzles already and the 'scientists' are still on their first ones."

"Ours are more difficult than yours," Rodney said over his shoulder. "We've just been giving you the easy stuff."

Megan rolled her eyes. "How's your day?"

Emily sipped her coffee. "Well, Jennifer and I have been doing tests and simulations for the better part of two hours, trying to find any problems. So far there's none, but I like to be thorough."

Megan sighed. "Well, I better get back to solving the majority of these puzzles. Tell Todd I said 'hi', okay?"

"Okay, baby. I love you."

"Love you, too, Ma."

* * *

**Todd looked out the window of his transport ship as he saw the Daedalus come out of hyperspace. So, this was it; the administration of the 'cure'. Hopefully Dr Keller and Emily knew what they were doing.**

**Todd and a handful of his commanders stepped out into the hangar bay and walked thru a door. On the opposite side, Dr Keller, Colonel Caldwell, Mr. Woolsey, Ronon and Emily were waiting.**

"**Thank you for coming," said Woolsey.**

"**Thank you for having us," Todd replied politely. Even Wraith had their manners. Some of the time.**

**Emily opened her mouth to say something, but Woolsey said, with an air of authority, "Today is an historic day."**

**Emily and Keller exchanged looks and they hid their smiles. Todd frowned. Woolsey was making a speech.**

"**Robert Grosentester once said that…"**

"**I would like get started as soon as possible," Todd interrupted. Emily bit down hard on her lower lip and Keller wrapped her arms around her sides to keep from shaking with laughter.**

"**Yes," said Woolsey, off balance, "but I wanted to take a moment to recognize…"**

"**I have doubts that your treatment will work," Todd said, turning to Emily and Keller, who snapped to attention, albeit with difficulty. "So shall we drop these unfounded pleasantries and get to work?"**

**Woolsey seemed to almost sag with disappointment. "Very well. Dr Parks, they're all yours."**

**Emily nodded. "If you'll follow me?" Her voice shook with suppressed merriment. Todd and the rest of the Wraith followed them down the hall.**

**Emily and Keller suddenly exploded with laughter.**

"**Oh God," giggled Emily. "Did you know about that?"**

**Keller nodded. "Yeah, I bumped into in the Mess Hall after you left."**

"**That just made my day," Emily sighed. "Oh, Megan would have loved to see that!"**

"**Is your daughter not here?" Todd asked.**

**Emily wiped tears from her eyes. "No, she's on Atlantis helping Rodney."**

"**Is she in good health?"**

**Emily glanced back at him with a mischievous twinkle in her green eyes. "She's in perfect health, thank you for your concern."**

**Todd rolled his eyes. Ah, Emily could see right thru his disguised words so easily. She knew him too well. And, for some reason, he didn't mind that. Not one bit.**

* * *

"We've ran close to a hundred simulations," Emily said thru her hands. "They've all been successful."

"We both know very well that computer simulations and live trials are both very different," said Todd from next to her.

"I don't think we're doing this cavalierly," Jennifer said. "I'm fully confident that this will work."

"Uh huh, perhaps it will," said Todd.

Emily, who was fading in and out of sleep, perked up at Jennifer's next words. "The question is; do you want it to work?"

Todd sighed. "I do see the benefits. Even if we use the therapy on some of my troops, say those, whose lives, thanks to this war, are expected to be short, why waste perfectly good resources, yes? But it will be very difficult to ask those around me to give themselves over for the 'good of the human race'."

"But it's for your benefit, too," said Emily softly, looking up from her hands. "If you don't have to rely on human feeding, the war will be over."

"Perhaps," agreed Todd, sitting down next to Emily, staring onto space. "But then what will we do? Who would we be?"

Emily hesitated then placed her hand over Todd's feeding hand. "You would be yourself; the Wraith that I…that helped turn the war around."

Todd looked at Emily. "How can you be so sure?"

Emily pulled out a gold necklace with a strange twisted symbol in it that had been tucked in her shirt. "This is the Celtic symbol of hope. My mother gave this to me when I first became a doctor. I was so scared that once I started my career, I would fail miserably. She told me that the future wasn't always clear, but there is always hope." She took it from around her neck and put it around Todd's. "There is always hope in every galaxy."

Todd touched the symbol. "Thank you, Emily."

Emily blushed and looked back at her computer. "You're welcome."

The medical lab doors opened and Ronon came in carrying two cups of coffee. "Thought you girls could use a pick-me-up. One white chocolate mocha with whipped cream and blueberries."

"Oh, Ronon, you're fantastic!" Jennifer sighed.

"And one French vanilla with chocolate and caramel sauce."

Emily took her drink and sipped it. "Mm, Ronon, you're a lifesaver!"

* * *

**Todd and Emily walked onto the bridge and were met by Woolsey. "You have an urgent message from your Hive; I assumed you'd want to take it privately."**

**Todd took the earpiece that has handed to him. "Go ahead. Very well. Permission granted. I shall remain here."**

"**Is everything okay?" Emily asked.**

**Todd stared at her and she said defensively, "Hey, after all the trouble I went thru to secure it for you, I deserve to know what's what in your Alliance."**

**Todd nodded. "One of our facilities is under attack by a rival Hive. My two support Hives will go and secure it. My Hive will remain here and continue the work with you and Dr Keller."**

"**I'm glad to hear that," said Woolsey.**

**Everyone looked at him and he back tracked, "Oh, not the under attack part, that's unfortunate, I only meant…never mind."**

**Emily rolled her eyes and shook her head at Caldwell, who nodded in some unspoken agreement.**

**They watched as two of the Hives broke formation and opened a hyperspace window. When the Hives were about to enter it, they both exploded.**

"**Marks!" barked Caldwell, "what the Hell just happened?"**

"**How did you do that?" Todd hissed.**

"**You don't seriously think we had anything to do with this!" Emily shouted.**

"**You tricked me," growled Todd, turning to face the humans. "This was your plan all along! Somehow, you found the Attero device!"**

**From his sleeves, he produced two rods and brought them in front of them.**

"**Todd wait…" began Emily, running at him, but the rods connected and a stun field ran the length of the bridge, knocking out everyone, except Todd.**

**Emily's fingers brushed his skin and her dark green eyes widened then she crumpled to the floor, unconscious.**

**Todd stepped over her and pressed a button on the commanders' chair.**

"**Commander," his second-in-command said, "we've been trying to contact you. Our two Hives have been destroyed!"**

"**I know," replied Todd. "We've been betrayed."**

"**What shall we do?"**

"**I have control of the humans' transport system. I'll begin beaming in our troops immediately." Todd sat down in the chair. "We're taking this ship."**

**As his soldiers took control of the rest of the ship, Todd initiated the Daedalus' lock down procedures. "That should limit their movements." He raised a hand to touch the necklace that Emily had given him. Hope. She'd talked of hope when she'd been deceiving him. Well, he hoped that he had enough mercy left in him after this to spare her life!**

"**Continue beaming in our troops," Todd barked. "Then set a new course. We're going to Atlantis."**


	9. The Lost Tribe

THE LOST TRIBE

Emily groaned as she regained consciousness. "Oh, damn Wraith stunners."

"Good timing, Emily," said a familiar voice.

Emily was forced to her feet and she blinked away the rest of her grogginess. "Todd, you'd better have a really good reason for knocking me out like that."

Todd smiled. "Come now, Emily, did you really except me to do otherwise?"

Emily scowled. "Look, I don't know what it is you think we've done, but I can assure you…"

Todd stood up from Caldwell's chair and cupped her chin. "Emily, let's drop this charade and talk like reasonable people."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "Fine. Why did you take over the ship?"

Todd smiled. "Because you destroyed two of my ships."

Emily sighed. "Oh, come on! How in the Hell did you come up with that brilliant idea?"

Todd growled, "You found the Attero device, Emily. Perhaps you yourself didn't know what it would do, but Colonel Sheppard most definatly will."

Emily blinked. "You're going to Atlantis."

Todd smiled again. "Well done. You've always been a smart woman. You've even distracted me from certain goals from time to time."

Emily gritted her teeth. "Todd, let me go and give the ship back to Caldwell and his crew."

Todd laughed. "You're in no position to make demands, Emily."

Emily smiled then slammed her head into Todd's face. The Wraith commander stumbled backwards and the drones holding Emily hit her in the gut and she doubled over.

"Enough!" roared Todd.

Emily gasped for breath and glared at Todd. "I don't care what happens next. I will kill you if anything happens to Atlantis or its inhabitants."

Todd bared his teeth. "Drop out of hyperspace!" He walked over to Woolsey and jerked him to his feet. Woolsey woke with start and stared around. "Emily, what is going on?"

"I was hoping you'd be awake for this," Todd said sinisterly.

"**Daedalus, it's good to see you," Colonel Sheppard began.**

"**Colonel Sheppard," Todd greeted.**

"**What the Hell is going on?" Sheppard demanded. "Where's Caldwell?"**

**Todd smiled. "I'm afraid I had to relieve him and his crew of duty. Don't worry; I'm more than willing to return this ship and its crew to you."**

"**In exchange for what?" Sheppard growled.**

"**You've activated the Attero device," Todd said. "I need you to shut it down and give me its location immediately."**

"**I don't know what you're talking about," Sheppard argued.**

**Todd didn't listen. "It was very clever of you; luring my ship out into the open to see if it worked. I have to admit, in a way I am impressed. I was there 10,000 years ago when the Ancients first tried to use it, but they didn't have the stomach to leave it on once they realized how many of their precious Stargates it would destroy, how many humans it would kill! Give me the location of the Attero device and once I have destroyed it I will return this crew to you."**

"**Look," Sheppard implored, "It's not what you think, we have nothing to do with this!"**

"**Every minute that goes by without you telling me, I will kill a member of your expedition," Todd growled and two drones shoved Emily forward. "Your time starts now."**

"**Give us a second," said Sheppard and the transmission ended.**

"**I don't think this should count as the minute," Emily muttered. "I mean, they haven't said no."**

"**Yet," Todd added. He felt Emily shudder as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.**

**The transmission started up again.**

"**Oh, thank God," whispered Emily.**

"**We're not the ones behind this," Sheppard said.**

**Todd nodded. "Very well." He raised his hand to feed on Emily.**

"**Wait!" shouted Sheppard. "We're not the ones behind this, but we may have what you need."**

"**Atlantis was attacked yesterday by a race we've not encountered before," Teyla said. "They stole a piece of technology that may be a key component to this Attero device. They also kidnapped Dr McKay and Dr Jackson."**

**Emily paled. "Teyla, was Megan with them when…?"**

"**Your daughter is safe," Teyla confirmed.**

"**Thank you God," Emily gasped, clutching at her heart.**

"**John Sheppard," Todd growled. "You will give me the coordinates or I will feed on Emily Parks before your eyes!"**

**Sheppard glared at Todd. "Do it," he muttered to one of his team.**

**After a second, Todd's second-in-command said, "We have it."**

**Todd nodded. "We'll be in touch." The screen went blank.**

"**Commander," said the second Wraith.**

"**What is it?"**

"**Something has appeared on our scanners."**

**Todd let go of Emily and examined the consul. "What is it?"**

"**I'm not sure," said the Wraith. "It looks like another human has boarded the ship."**

**Todd frowned. "Just the one?"**

"**Yes, sir."**

"**Show me."**

**The consul flashed and they saw a little girl running down a hallway.**

"**Megan," said Todd. He wheeled on Emily. "I thought she was on Atlantis!"**

"**She was," Emily said. She smiled slightly. "I guess she found a way to beam up on the ship."**

**Todd ground his teeth. "Dispatch a group of soldiers. Bring her to me!"**

_Megan heard two pairs of footsteps running for her. "Crap!" she hissed. "Well, I guess now is a perfect time to practice those moves Ma taught me."_

_She jumped out only to see Ronon and Jennifer. "Whoa! Hey guys."_

"_What are you doing here?" Jennifer asked as they set off again._

"_I beamed up secretly from Atlantis as soon as I heard that Todd had control of the ship," Megan said. "It was easy, sort of. What are you guys doing?"_

"_We're heading to engineering," replied Ronon. "We need to cripple the ship."_

_They entered engineering and Ronon stunned the Wraith guards._

"_I've locked the doors," said Jennifer._

"_This won't take long," said Megan._

"_Okay so we need to lock them out of the main interface," muttered Jennifer. "Do any of you have a pass code?"_

"_Nope," Ronon and Megan said together._

"_Then how do you suggest we cripple them?" Jennifer asked._

_Ronon blasted the hyperspace controls and moved onto weapons._

"_What are you doing?" Jennifer asked._

"_Sabotaging this ship," Megan answered._

"_You can't just blast away a vital system like that!" Jennifer protested. "What if you take out the life support system?"_

"_Relax," said Megan. "The life support tray is that one. At least, I think it is."_

_Jennifer shook her head. "Okay, we're out of hyperspace, that's enough, come on."_

_Megan was peering around the corner of a hallway when the ships' speaker turned on. "Megan," said Todd's voice. "I know you're onboard. I know you're the saboteur."_

"_So much for secrecy," said Ronon._

"_Megan, you're freedom has become a nuisance. Turn yourself in or I will begin killing off your friends, one by one, starting with your mother."_

_Megan stopped. "He wouldn't."_

"_You have three minutes to comply."_

"_He's bluffing," assured Ronon._

"_No, he's not," Megan growled. "I'm turning myself in."_

"_No you're not," protested Jennifer._

"_He's gonna kill my mother," snapped Megan._

"_He's gonna kill you," argued Ronon._

"_Well, I hope not," said Megan, a little perturbed._

"_We need to get you a gun," said Jennifer soothingly. "Then we can go and save your mother and everyone else."_

_Megan sighed. "Okay. We'll do it your way."_

"_Okay," said Ronon. He and Jennifer turned their backs to Megan, who ran into a hallway and sealed it off._

_Megan smiled. "Never underestimate the mind of a genius kid." She pressed the communications button to the bridge. "Todd?"_

"_Megan, I was beginning to think you were going to let your mother down."_

"_Yeah, yeah, you win, asshole," said Megan, introducing some language she'd heard from Rodney. "Let my mother go."_

"_Your mother is safe and well," Todd assured her. "Stay where you are and my soldiers will bring you to me."_

**Todd was rubbing the necklace that Emily had given him between his fingers when his soldiers brought Megan in. "Ah, Miss Parks. You're the last person I expected to see on this ship." Todd looked the nine year old girl up and down. "Where is your weapon?"**

"**My weapon," Megan repeated.**

"**Yes, the one you used to destroyed the crystal trays."**

**Megan folded her arms defiantly. "I ditched it. Do you really think I'd want it ending up in your hands?"**

"**Oh, it's foolish of you to see me as the enemy," said Todd, crouching down to look her in the eyes. "I'm on a mission from your Colonel Sheppard."**

**Megan snorted. "I seriously doubt that. If that's true then why did you take over the ship?"**

"**It is a long story," Todd replied. "The mission, however, is time sensitive and you have rendered us a major setback. Hyperdrive, weapons, shields; they are all down."**

**Megan bit her lip. "That's a real shame."**

"**It is," agreed Todd. "Especially since hundreds of thousands of humans are dying because of it. I would think that will weigh heavily on you in the future."**

**Megan's pupils contracted. "What are you talking about?"**

"**Hyperdrive's coming on line," one of the Wraith commanders said.**

"**And weapons?" asked Todd, standing up.**

"**They're no good to us anymore."**

"**I guess you won't be able to finish the mission," said Megan.**

**Todd turned back to her. "Oh, we'll find a way. Get us back into hyperspace and put her in the brig."**

Emily looked up as the hangar doors opened. "Ronon? Jen? What's going on? Have you seen Megan?"

"Todd took her," replied Ronon. "Come on, we're taking this ship back."

Emily raced into the bridge with the rest of the crew. "There's nobody here."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," sighed Jennifer.

"Thanks for that, Obi-Wan," Emily said sarcastically.

"Do a life sign scan, let me know where they are," said Woolsey.

Lieutenant Marks sat down and tapped his controls. "They're in the hallway leading to the second 3O2 bay."

"Ronon," said Emily. "We're going to stop them."

Ronon and a group of Marines followed her out of the bridge and to the 3O2 bay.

In front of the hangar doors, they ran into them. Emily and Ronon took positions on opposite sides of the hallway and started firing. Todd snarled and dived behind the drones, pulling another person with him.

"Megan!" shrieked Emily.

"Ma!" Megan called back. "Ma, help!"

Emily felt a surge of anger and made a run at the Wraith. "Todd!"

The Wraith commander turned and saw her. Her eyes were cold and filled with hate.

She was hit with a Wraith stunner and fell to her knees. She was hit with two more and darkness enveloped her.

Emily stared out at the night sky on Atlantis, her face set in a dark scowl. Todd had kidnapped her daughter. He was going to pay.

"Emily?"

She turned to see John walking towards her. "Hey."

"I, uh, heard about Megan."

Emily swallowed. "Yeah, Todd took her."

John rubbed her back comfortingly. "How're you holding up?"

Emily shook her head. "My little girl has been kidnapped by the man I thought I… I want her back, John," she said, her eyes stinging with tears.

"I know, Em," said John, hugging her.

Emily let the tears fall. "I want my baby girl back."


	10. Infection

INFECTION

Emily watched from a distance as Ronon, Teyla, Rodney and Woolsey discussed the pending arrival of the Hive ship.

"How long until they get here?" asked Ronon.

"Just a matter of minutes," said Rodney.

"Are we prepared to cloak the city?" asked Woolsey.

"Yes," replied Rodney. "I've made all the necessary modifications, but for the record, I still say the shield is a better idea."

"They'd have to know the exact location of Atlantis," said Woolsey.

"And you're assuming they don't?" Emily said. "Either they've got some inside information, or it's Todd himself."

"Even so," said Woolsey, "I think its better not to divulge our location until we know for sure."

"Megan could be on that ship," Emily pressed.

"Megan has been a captive of the Wraith for multiple weeks," said Woolsey. "There's no guarantee that she's even alive, much less on that ship."

Emily narrowed her eyes and resisted the impulse to hit Woolsey. She was saving that for Todd.

The Hive ship dropped out of hyperspace a second after the cloak was engaged. Nothing happened.

"What's happening?" Emily asked.

"I don't know," said Rodney. "Whoa, hang on. I'm receiving a transmission. It's a file of some kind."

"Put it up on a fire walled computer," said Woolsey.

"What does it say?" asked Ronon.

"It's encrypted," said Rodney. "It's using the same algorithm we use on the Daedalus." He kept typing then the screen turned into a static video feed of Todd.

Emily felt her muscles tighten. "Hold your fire…Megan is fine…harm her at all…to the gene therapy developed by Dr. Keller…formulation worked…while my crew…but not for long…was unable to counteract the disease…help us…Emily…" The video ended.

"What on Earth does that mean?" asked Woolsey.

"I have no idea," replied Rodney.

In a Jumper, Emily fingered her shortened hair and thought about seeing Megan again. Would she be alright? She would kill Todd if anything had happened to her daughter.

"Coming up on it now," said Sheppard. "This is Colonel John Sheppard, please come in. We didn't receive your file transmission correctly, please respond. Are they getting this?"

"They should be," said Rodney. "There's no reason why…whoa! I'm not picking up any life signs onboard."

"What?" hissed Emily.

"I'm not sensing any Wraith, either," said Teyla.

"This better not be a Wraith ship from another reality," Ronon retorted.

"We've been tracking their approach for a few days now, remember?" said Emily. "They didn't just pop into our space like that other Daedalus did."

"They don't show up on our scans when they're hibernating," said Rodney. "That's probably the reason. Of course, there's only one way to find out."

"Hey, Woolsey," said John on a secured channel. "The Wraith have thrown us a little curve ball; there are no life signs onboard and we think they're hibernating. We'd like to find out why, but that means boarding the ship."

"Are you sure that's wise?" said Woolsey. "What if it's a trap?"

"Well, if it is then it's a pretty lousy one. If they ambush us, you can still take them out down there."

"Sacrificing your lives," Woolsey pointed out.

"I'm flattered you think Todd would go to such lengths to kill me," said Emily with a touch of her old sarcastic self. "Look, taking out a Hive ship is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned, but we came all this way and we're all dressed up."

"Alright," said Woolsey.

**The first thing that Todd saw when waking from hibernation was Emily's face. He noticed that her dark copper hair was cut shorter, hanging to her chin rather than her elbows. And her eyes. Emily's deep, dark green eyes were like shards of ice.**

"**Hello Emily."**

"**How are you feeling?" she asked. It wasn't directed at Todd, but at Megan, who was shaking of the effects of hibernation.**

"**Weird," the girl replied. "I was in hibernation for the better part of a week, how'd you think?"**

**Emily hugged her daughter. "Don't worry, as soon as the other Jumpers get here, you can sleep in a real bed." She looked up at Todd. "Okay, so you didn't kill her, I'm impressed."**

"**I did not think you would come," Todd said softly.**

**Emily blushed. "What are friends for? Your ship is malfunctioning. We need you to fix it."**

"**You woke me for this?" Todd asked.**

"**That's right," said Sheppard. "You've got work to do."**

"I've tried that already," said Rodney as Todd tapped a few controls.

Todd snarled at him.

"Never mind, just go ahead," said Rodney, not scared at all. "Jeez, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the pod this morning."

"This makes no sense," growled Todd. "These systems are behaving erratically."

"Well, that's what I've been trying to tell you," said Rodney.

"What have you done to them?" Todd shouted.

"I haven't done anything!" Rodney protested. "They've been acting screwy the moment we came onboard!"

"Nothing responding the way it should," Todd muttered. "It's almost as if…"

"What?" Emily asked.

"No," growled Todd. "It's not possible."

"What isn't?"

"I believe I know why this ship is malfunctioning."

"The disease is in the ship?" Emily repeated.

"It is the only explanation that makes sense," replied Todd.

"How is that even possible?" asked Jennifer.

"I don't know," said Todd, "but it may have something to do with the hibernation process."

"So we're flying around in a giant tumor?" said John.

"Can't we land it?" Emily asked.

"Landing a Hive is a difficult process in the best of times," replied Todd. "Under these conditions I wouldn't recommend it."

"So what do we do?" Emily asked.

"Cure this disease," said Todd matter-of-factly.

"Wait a second," said Jennifer. "We've just barely scratched the surface of what went wrong here. It could take months to analyze the data."

"At the current level of the ships' degradation, I estimate we have four days before it becomes uninhabitable," said Todd.

"Then we'd better get to work," said Emily.

**Todd doubled over in pain as the disease within him caused his stomach to writhe.**

**Two warm hands touched his back. "Are you alright?" asked Emily.**

"**It will pass," said Todd thru tight lips.**

"**I'm sorry," she whispered. "I never meant for any of this to happen. I honestly thought that the treatment would make things better for everyone."**

**Todd walked over to a consul and chuckled.**

"**What's funny?" Emily asked.**

"**I find it amusing; a human apologizing to a Wraith."**

**Emily caught his hand. "I've apologized for a lot of your pain, haven't I?"**

**Todd felt his insides squirm at the memories of his first year in Atlantis. Yes, Emily had caused him pain, but it had been well worth it.**

"**Of course," Emily continued, "you just view compassion as a sign of weakness."**

"**Isn't it?" pressed Todd.**

**Emily looked into his eyes. "No, it's not. It was compassion for Megan that I kept living after you took her. That and hope."**

**Todd reflexively touched the necklace she'd given him on the Daedalus. "It was hope that kept me going as well."**

**Emily blushed. "Well, don't loose hope yet. I'm going to find a cure for you."**

**Todd ran a hand over her cheek. "Why would you do that for me?"**

**Emily held his hand to her face. "Because I couldn't go on knowing that it was because of me that you died."**

**Todd wrapped his other arm around her. "Would it bother you if I were to die?"**

**Emily swallowed. "That's not going to happen." She stepped out of his embrace and turned back to her work.**

"**It says here that you attempted to use Iratus bug DNA in your treatment," said Todd.**

"**Yeah," said Keller. "I thought that using the pure DNA of an Iratus bug would help prevent the deterioration of your Wraith abilities, but unfortunately, it didn't work, so…what is it?"**

"**I have an idea," said Todd. Albeit a probably painful one.**

"**What's so damn important?" asked Sheppard when he entered the lab.**

"**He thinks there's a way to fix this," Jennifer replied.**

"**Fix what? Cure the disease?"**

"**Not cure it," said Todd. "But undo it. Thousands of years ago a terminal ill Wraith could, occasionally, restore himself to perfect health if he allowed an Iratus bug, specifically a queen, to feed on him."**

"**And you're just bringing this up now?" said Emily.**

"**The process was abandoned long ago because it is dangerous," explained Todd, "almost always resulting in the death of the Wraith in question. I only consider it know because it seems we are beyond…hope."**

**Emily ducked her head. Great, not only was Todd giving up, but he could very well be right.**

"**There is a planet," Todd continued, "less than three days journey where we will find what we need."**

"**We barely keep this thing in orbit and you want to take this thing into hyperspace?" said Sheppard.**

"**I can manage it," Todd said with confidence.**

"**Forget about it," said Sheppard. "You can come up with a solution right here."**

"**This is the only way to save my crew," said Todd.**

"**We're not leaving," said Sheppard adamantly.**

"**At least do me the courtesy of being honest," Todd growled. "This is not about you, Sheppard, not about risking a jump into hyperspace. You do not want me to go because I'll be restoring the lives of thousands of unhealthy Wraith including myself. This disease is your responsibility. If I had not agreed to meet with you in the first place to discuss this innovation of yours my crew and I would not be here in this predicament!"**

"**Well, I might be feeling a little more charitable," said Sheppard. "If you hadn't tried to kill hundreds of my people the last time we were together!"**

**Todd roared with fury and raised his hand to feed on Sheppard, but froze as he remembered that he didn't have a feeding hand anymore. "You owe me this, Sheppard."**

**John curled his lip. "I don't owe you anything. Get him out of here."**

**Emily stepped forward as the Marines started to take Todd away. She met Todd's eyes and they told him everything he needed to know about her feelings for him.**

Todd sat in the brig, feeling his ship shudder beneath him. The brig doors opened and Emily came running in, her breath coming in gasps. "Todd!"

"You can't quite leave me be," Todd said with mild amusement.

"I don't have time to play games," said Emily. "Do you know what that sound is?"

"Oh, I can guess," said Todd.

"We've lost orbit," said Emily. "We're entering the atmosphere, which means in a few minutes we're gonna slam into that planet."

"A quick death will be a welcome reprieve," Todd retorted.

Emily pressed herself against his cell door. "I didn't think you were such a quitter. If you get this ship on the ground, I'll take you to your bug planet."

"And you expect me to believe that?" Todd said wryly, standing up and facing her.

"My word as a doctor," Emily vowed. "And as a mother."

"What of my crew?" asked Todd.

Emily swallowed. "They're dead. The ship split in two and the other half was vaporized.

"If we'd gone to the planet when I suggested it none of this would have happened!"

Emily started as a piece of the wall crumbled. She looked back at Todd and he saw true fear in her eyes. "We'll never know that now. Todd…please! I'm begging you to help us!"

"**Move aside!" Todd barked as he and Emily entered the bridge. Teyla stepped away from the helm controls and he took them. "I believe I can create a bypass that will engage the thrusters, but it will take a few moments."**

"**Impact in fifteen seconds," Emily warned.**

"**Not if I can help it," Todd growled. "Firing thrusters!"**

"**Forty thousand feet!" shouted Emily. "We're still descending too fast."**

"**It's not enough," McKay warned.**

"**Instead of criticizing," Todd spat, "then perhaps you can work at getting me some more power!"**

"**Twenty thousand feet!" yelled Emily. "We'll have to fly her across the water. Ten thousand feet!"**

"**That's all the power we've got!" said McKay.**

"**Can we make it out in time?" Emily asked.**

"**We can hope," said Todd, staring into her eyes. She smiled sadly at him.**

**Todd pulled Emily to him. "Whatever happens, I'm glad for our time together."**

**Emily wrapped her arms around him, placing her head over his heart.**

**The ship landed in the water with a violent lurch, sending everyone crashing to their feet and some into consuls.**

**Todd shook his head to clear away the stars in front of his eyes. "Emily?"**

**She groaned and rolled onto her back. "Ow."**

**Todd crawled over to her and grasped her hand. "Are you injured?"**

**Emily sighed. "Aside from the massive headache I'm bound to get later on, I'm fine."**

**Todd stroked back her hair. "I can't believe you cut it."**

**Emily smiled. "Actually, I think I look pretty hot. I just can't believe we're talking about it now."**

**Todd laughed and she joined in.**

"**What's so funny?" Sheppard groaned.**

"**We made it!" McKay said. "My God, it actually worked!"**

**Ronon helped Keller and Teyla to their feet and Todd held Emily close to him. "Let's not do that again," he sighed.**

"**Agreed," Emily said.**

"Good to see you back on your feet," said Woolsey as Emily and John walked into his office. "How's the rest of your team?"

"Recovering," said John as they sat down. "We took quite a jolt hitting the water."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Woolsey.

Emily glanced at the screen that showed Todd in the Isolation Room. "How is he?"

"Not well," replied Woolsey. "He hasn't responded to any treatment. I received your request. Doctor, forgive me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one who wanted to destroy his ship after you rescued Megan?"

Emily shrugged. "That sounds vaguely familiar."

"And now you want me to go against protocol and let him go."

"He is the reason we're alive," John put in.

"I realize that, Colonel, but he is also the reason you were in danger in the first place. Not to mention an incredible security risk."

"He's probably gonna die anyway," said John.

"And if he survives?"

"He's going to remember what we did," Emily shot back. "Like it or not, he's been the biggest ally we've had in the fight against the Wraith. If we ever get around to perfecting this gene therapy, we're going to need his help to deploy it."

Woolsey sighed. "You realize that this is the kind of decision that could cost me my job."

"Aren't they all?" Emily retorted.

Emily walked with Todd to the Stargate. "I appreciate your decision to let me go," said Todd.

"A deal's a deal," Emily said.

They entered the Gate Room where the Gate was already activated.

"Remember to call me," Emily said. "Megan will probably want to talk to you soon."

Todd took her hand and kissed it. "I will remember this, Emily Parks." He started to pull away, but Emily flung her arms around him and kissed him tenderly, forgetting that the majority of the Atlantis population was watching. Todd held her close until John cleared his throat loudly. "The Gate's not gonna wait forever."

Emily smiled against Todd's lips and let go. "Come back to me," she whispered.

"I intend to," he replied. "Especially after last night."

Emily shivered with delight as she recalled what he had done to her…and vice versa.

Todd walked away from her and walked into the Stargate.


	11. Enemy at the Gate

Stargate Atlantis

ENEMEY AT THE GATE

"In coming wormhole. Signal's coming in now."

Emily looked at the screen and blinked. "Todd?"

"Don't sound so surprised, my dear," said Todd. "I told you I'd keep in touch."

"You said the treatment might not have worked," Emily said.

"Well, it worked, although it was excruciatingly painful."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Emily said with a coy smile.

Todd smiled too. "I was able to return to my position as leader of the Alliance, but I have had a recent set back. Perhaps you can see what remains of my ship?" He turned away and they all saw a smoking pile of metal.

"Nice landing," said Emily.

"Don't be so critical," Todd chastised. "It wasn't so long ago that my flying capabilities saved both you and your team. It was a pilot error; I was attacked by one of my underlings."

"You'll excuse me for being blunt," said Woolsey, "but why should we care?"

"It isn't the fact that he attacked and temporarily defeated me that should concern you, it's rather how he managed to do it."

"And how was that?" Emily asked, readying herself for a blow.

"He acquired a very rare and valuable piece of technology; one I very well think you are quite familiar."

"A ZPM, are you kidding me?"

"Ah, that's what he said," Emily confirmed.

"I don't buy it," said Ronon.

"Why not?" asked Woolsey.

"Well, for one, they don't exactly grow on trees," offered Rodney.

"He got betrayed by his own people," Ronon continued. "Now he wants us to help him clean up the mess."

"He's volunteered to place himself in our custody," Emily said. "I know he wouldn't do that if there wasn't some truth in his words."

"Well, you can bet that there's something he's not telling us," John interjected.

"Hm, too true," Emily agreed, "but that doesn't necessarily mean that he's lying about the ZPM."

"If this is true," said Rodney, "it could be very, very bad."

"It's a threat we can't tolerate," said Woolsey. "And we won't."

Todd watched as Emily walked into the Isolation Room and sat down opposite him.

"Well," she said, "here we are again."

"Indeed," said Todd. "This city has become quite familiar to me, almost a respite for daily life. It would be a shame to see it destroyed."

Emily raised her eyebrows. "Are you suggesting that if we don't help you that would be a likely outcome?"

Todd shrugged, unconcerned, at least trying to hide it.

Emily sighed. "Alright, let's start at the beginning. Where did the ZPM come from?"

"You recall the few modules I recovered from the Replicator City before it was destroyed?"

"Yes," said Emily. "They were lost when we took out the cloning facility."

"Not all of them," Todd corrected.

Emily tensed. "Excuse me?"

"I may have acquired more than I let on."

"How much more?" Emily asked.

"Let's not get caught up in unnecessary details," said Todd evasively.

"I like details," Emily said forcefully.

"Even if I gave you a number, you'd have no way of verifying it," Todd argued. "You certainly wouldn't take my word for it, so what's the point?"

"Alright then," Emily sighed, "then tell me this; why now? You've had those ZPM's for over a year."

"Wraith Hives have a certain incompatibility with Ancient technology," Todd explained. "These had to be overcome before the modules could be put to work."

"You managed to do it with the cloning facility," Emily shot back.

"A Hive is more complex," Todd argued. "I put my best scientists to work on this project and recently one of them succeeded."

"Only he didn't want to turn it over to you," Emily finished. "And now you want us to help you kick him to the curb."

"It would be in your best interest," Todd agreed. "This Hive is a working progress. It has yet to reach its full potential, which means that if you attack it now, you'll be able to destroy it, but if you hesitate then it will be too late and this Hive will be unstoppable."

Megan accompanied John to where Todd's quarters were on the Daedalus. She was glad to see the Wraith, but her fondness for him had dulled since he'd kidnapped her.

"Hello Megan," Todd greeted as she walked in. "You've grown."

"It's good to see you, too," she said. "You're looking good."

Todd turned to John. "Was it really necessary to remove my subspace transmitter and force my to wear this ridicules outfit?"

"Well, after what happened last time, can you blame us?" said John.

Todd smiled. "So I assume my request to be on the bridge…?"

"Denied," John said.

"Understandable."

"Here's the problem," said John, "every time we get involved with you, I feel like I'm walking around with a live grenade in my pocket, just waiting for it to all go wrong for that one thing you forgot to mention."

"I assure you, in this case…" Todd began.

"Save it," Megan cut across him. "We've been down this road before."

"If you really feel that way," Todd said, "why was I let go after our last encounter?"

"We had a deal and you kept up your end of the bargain," said John. "And to be honest, I didn't think you'd live. If I find out you're playing us, I'm not going to wait for authorization, there won't be any paperwork, I'm just going to kill you."

Todd stared after him then turned to Megan. "And what are your views?"

Megan shrugged. "I'll probably feel bad at the time and Ma will probably kill him afterwards, but I kind of agree with the colonel."

Emily entered the Isolation Room with John after he got back from the failed attempt on the Daedalus.

"Well, things didn't go exactly according to plan," said John, leaning over the table to glare at Todd.

"So I heard," said the Wraith. "Do you intend to hold me responsible?"

"All I know is that everything went sideways, the way it always goes when you're involved," John growled. "Are you going to tell me that's a coincidence?"

Todd bared his teeth. "Then you've come to make good on your threat."

Threat? Emily narrowed her eyes at John, but the colonel just sat down. "Where are the other ZPM's you talked to Emily about?"

"Tell us where they are and maybe it'll improve your situation," Emily said.

Todd raised his eyebrows. "Am I supposed to be enticed by this offer?"

"No," said John, "I'll probably kill you anyway."

"This Wraith betrayed you and got away with it," Emily pressed. "For no other reason, you might want to do it out of pure spite."

"You both know how to talk to me," Todd said and laughed.

"We got them" said Lorne as he walked back thru the Stargate with a box. He unlocked it and showed two ZPM's.

"He actually came thru for us," muttered Woolsey.

"Never underestimate the spite of a Wraith," Emily said. "Have Radik install them immediately."

"Maybe he's turning over a new leaf," said John. "Or maybe they're gonna blow up when you plug them in."

"Have Dr McKay check them first," said Woolsey.

"Right," agreed Lorne.

"Okay," said John, "I'm heading to the Chair Room."

"Actually, Colonel," said Woolsey, "you won't be flying the city for us. In fact, you won't be coming with us at all."

"What are you talking about?" asked John.

"General O'Neill wants you in the Chair on Earth," said Woolsey. "You have half an hour to pack before you Gate back to Earth."

"Okay," said Rodney. "Chair functions are up one hundred percent. Radik, how are things at your end?"

"_ZPM's are fully functional," _repliedRadik_._

"Okay, who's flying this puppy?" Megan asked.

"That would be me," said a Scottish voice.

Rodney and Megan looked up to see Carson Beckett walk into the room. "Rodney, nice to see you again. Megan, you look lovely as ever."

"They called you in for this?" Rodney said. "Wow, you must have a higher CIA than I thought."

"Excuse me?" asked Carson.

"Chair Interface Aptitude," Megan explained. "It's our ranking system."

"Well," said Carson, "after Colonel Sheppard, I'm number 2."

"Really?" said Rodney. "Huh, I'll have to look into that."

"Well thanks for the vote of confidence," said Carson.

Megan reached up and kissed Carson's cheek. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Right," said Carson, sitting in the Chair. "I guess I'm ready."

"_Dr Beckett," _saidWoolsey_. "Take us out."_

Carson scrunched up his face and the city gave a small jolt upwards.

Todd looked up as Emily walked in, wearing combat gear. "What's going on?"

"The Hive's attacked Earth," she replied. "The ship has a Stargate onboard that makes it impossible to dial Stargate Command. Ronon, Teyla, Rodney and I are going to cripple it."

"That's suicide," Todd said, standing up. "I can't allow you to do that."

Emily smiled. "You don't have the power to keep me from doing this mission. Besides, you're coming with us."

Todd watched as Lorne rolled a few grenades into the wormhole.

"Do you think that cleared the way?" Rodney asked.

"Only one way to find out," replied Lorne and he walked thru the gate.

Todd followed Emily and Teyla thru and saw that the Wraith guards were dead. Well, they should've known better than going up against these humans.

Megan caught up with Woolsey in the hallway. "I've been meaning to talk to you about something." She handed him a tablet. "It's something that Rodney and I've been working on for some time. It's an adaptation of Ancient technology that was abandoned because of instability and enormous power requirements. It's essentially a Wormhole Drive. It's instantaneous travel across enormous distances. If it works, we can be at Earth in a matter of seconds. Radek and I think we can do it."

Todd followed close behind Ronon and Lorne and was sure to keep Emily behind him. If anything were to happened to her…

"Which way?" Teyla asked.

McKay inspected his tablet. "We should go for the ZPM and create a fatal overload. We can destroy this ship in one shot."

"I like the sound of that," said Ronon.

"The problem is that I'm not sure if we can get off the ship in time," McKay continued.

"And you're just telling us this know?" Emily hissed.

"I'm thinking on my feet here," Rodney said defensively.

"What choice do we have?" said Todd. "If we can take out this Hive then we should do it, no matter the cost."

"I hate to say this," said Ronon, "but I agree with him."

Emily sighed. "Lead the way, Rodney."

They walked a little farther when they were ambushed by multiple Wraith. Todd snarled as he ducked behind a pillar with Emily.

"Is there another way out?" Ronon shouted.

"I think so," McKay yelled back.

"Go!" Teyla shouted.

Emily covered Todd and McKay as they ran to a more secluded position, but more Wraith came. Todd roared and attacked one of them while the other unarmed Emily with a blow to her stomach. She kicked him multiple times until he stumbled backward. Emily ran to help Todd and they killed the Wraith. But the other took out a knife and stabbed at them.

Emily screamed as the blade cut up into her lung. Todd picked up her weapon and fired at the drone, which dropped dead.

Emily collapsed to the ground and whimpered, blood trickling down her lips.

"No!" Todd yelled, holding her in his arms. "Emily, stay with me!"

"Just go!" Emily croaked out. "You've got to destroy this Hive! You've…got to…"

"Emily!" Todd cried. "Emily, don't leave me!"

Emily held his gaze. "I love you, Todd. I always…have…"

Todd felt her last breath leave her. "No!"

"Come on, let's go!" said Lorne. "Come on!"

With one last agonizing look at her face, Todd set Emily down and left her there.

Todd felt his heart grow heavy with each step he took away from Emily's body. She'd loved him and he'd let her die.

They rounded a corner and found Sheppard there. "You're the last people I expected to see on this ship."

"Same here," said McKay. "Give me a damn minute." He ran off to the 3O2 that Sheppard had flown.

"Where's Emily?" asked Sheppard.

"They killed her," said Todd and they were surprised to hear his voice crack.

Emily gasped as air flooded thru her body, giving her life. A Wraith commander stood over her. "I've given you life, human, and bound your wound."

"That was real nice of you," Emily said sarcastically.

"Now you will answer my questions," the Wraith hissed. "How many humans are on my ship?"

Emily stayed silent. The Wraith raised his boot and pressed down on her damaged lung. "Where are they?"

Emily smiled thru her pain. "Behind you," she whispered just before the team killed them all.

"How are you doing, Em?" John asked, helping her up.

Emily groaned and held her side. "I'll be a lot better when you guys blow this Hive."

Todd pushed forward and hugged her. "I thought you were gone."

Emily sighed and kissed his cheek. "I'm hard to get rid of."

"Okay," said John. "Less kissing, more leaving."

Todd lifted Emily up into his arms and carried her until they reached the Stargate.

"_We're picking up another ship," _saidColonelCarterovertheradio_. "It's Atlantis, they're engaging the Hive!"_

"About freaking time," Emily sighed.

"Okay, Rodney," said John. "Do your stuff."

"On it," said Rodney.

"We've got company!" shouted Lorne as the Wraith attacked.

Todd set Emily down and fired at the oncoming Wraith. Emily pulled out her handgun and started shooting, too.

"How's it coming, Rodney?" asked John.

"It's done!" called Rodney. "Dialing Atlantis!"

Todd picked Emily up and they ran into the wormhole and landed in Atlantis.

"You're timing could've been better!" Emily groaned as Megan came running to greet her.

Megan froze at the sight of Emily's blood. "What happened?"

"It's superficial," Emily lied. "I'll be fine."

"I'll take her to the Medical Bay," Todd said.

They were in the main hallway when the Wraith Hive exploded in a blinding flash of light.

That was when Emily lost consciousness.

Megan paced outside the Medical Bay, waiting for her mother to get out of surgery. Superficial, her ass!

The doors opened and Jennifer came out. "She's out of surgery."

"Will she be okay?" Megan asked.

Jennifer shook her head. "Only time will tell. She's pretty banged up."

"Can we see her?" asked Todd.

"Not yet," said Jennifer. "There's something you both need to see."

Todd stared at the screen with wide eyes, still unable to grasp what he was seeing. It was true the Wraith and human DNA were similar, but this…this changed everything.

Todd walked over to where Emily was laying and sat down next to her. "Emily? Emily, please try to make it." He took her hand and brought it up to his face. "I can't bare the thought of loosing you now. Please…please come back to me. I love you too much to let you go."

"Who says I'm going anywhere?"

Todd looked up to see Emily open her eyes and smile lazily at him. "Hey."

"Hello," he said. "Welcome back."

Emily blinked. "Wow, that was some wild ride, wasn't it?"

"It was," Todd agreed. "All is well; your planet was saved, you and your friends survived all thanks to my zero point modules."

"You won't let me forget that in a hurry," Emily sighed.

Todd laughed and hugged her tightly to him.

6


End file.
